Determination of Ecological and Carbon Footprints of Adıyaman Directorate of Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Staffs

Abstract

Humans have always benefited from natural sources to satisfy their needs. Today, with the increase in population, the natural resources on our earth are decreasing and assumed to be consumed in the near future because of the consciousness of the individuals and the consciousness of consumption away from sustainability. It is important to determine how many planets the world will need in the future if the individual continues to live that way with his current consumption habits. The concept of ecological footprint emerges in determining this need. In this study, ecological and carbon footprints were calculated and evaluated according to the consciousness and consumption habits of Adıyaman Directorate of Provincial Agriculture and Forestry staffs. Web-based "Ecological Footprint Calculation Survey" was used as data collection tool in the research. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation were used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the calculations, the average ecological footprint of technical and administrative staffs was determined as 2.37 gha person-1, the average carbon footprint was 14.52 tons person-1 and the biocapacity deficit caused by technical and administrative staffs was -0.93 gha person-1. According to these results, at least 1.41 worlds are needed for Adıyaman Directorate of Provincial Agriculture and Forestry staffs for a sustainable life.