49
arab environment: survival options
Development (AFED) by the Global Footprint Network (GFN) on the Ecological Footprint of Arab countries explored resource constraints in Arab countries from the perspective of the regenerative capacity of nature. Nature’s capacity (biocapacity) and human demand on this capacity (footprint) are expressed in biologically productive land and sea areas with world average productivity expressed in a common unit of global hectares (gha), which allows comparisons among countries. Components of bioproductive areas include cropland, grazing land, forestland, marine and inland fishing grounds, carbon uptake land, and built-up areas (GFN/AFED, 2012). Notwithstanding the shortcomings in assessing Ecological Footprint accounts such as the exclusion of water footprints, particularly in the context of cropland component, the GFN/AFED survey highlights the widening gap in Arab countries between population demand for ecological resources and available domestic biocapacity. According to 2008 data, the survey indicates that the Ecological Footprint of Arab countries, at an average of 2.1 gha per capita, is more than twice the biocapacity of 0.9 gha per capita. While the average biocapacity per capita has declined by 60 percent from 1961 to 2008, mostly because of a 3.5 fold increase in population, total biocapacity across the Arab region has increased by 42 percent over the same period, largely attributed to increased irrigation and intensification of agricultural inputs. The cropland component of biocapacity remained almost unchanged since 1961 at 0.3 gha per capita. This indicates that the biocapacity of cropland has kept pace with the rapid population growth in the region, a situation that is unlikely to be maintained in the future due to ever greater pressures placed on scarce water resources (GFN/AFED, 2012). The availability of agricultural land is important for producing food crops, but more so is its productivity. Satisfying the demand for food domestically for a growing population at world competitive prices while maintaining land sustainability, requires that consumption of available resources be less than what nature can supply. Cropland is one of six types of bioproductive areas considered by GFN in the survey on the Ecological Footprint of Arab countries (GFN/
Cost of environmental degradation expressed as a percentage of GDP equivalent
FIGURE 3
Tunisia
Jordan
Syria
Algeria
Morocco
Lebanon
Egypt 0
2 GDP equivalent (%)
Source: Adapted from World Bank, 2012b
4
6