Abstract:

The ecological footprint is an ecological economic research method to measure the condition of regional sustainable development quantificationally,and it turns the comparison of ecologic demand and supply into computable land demand and supply that human need to develop their society.By calculating the ecological footprint of the central six provinces from 1990 to 2009,we made a systemic analysis and comparison of the ecological and economic situation,and studied the sustainable development potential of the central region.At the same time we calculated the ecological carrying capacity so as to analyze the ecological deficit condition and the potential of sustainable development of this area.The study showed that the total ecological footprint of the central provinces was growing rapidly.Some individual provinces such as Shanxi Province,and Henan Province not only had a high total ecological footprint,but also had a high growth rate.Simultaneously,the average per capita ecological footprint of Shanxi Province was far higher than that of others.Considering from the structure of ecological demand,the energy ecological footprint of Shanxi Province occupied 85% of the total ecological footprint,being the maximum of all the energy rates,which followed by the energy rate of Henan Province.It is concluded that industrial restructuring and technological improvements are needed to be done urgently to these provinces.The ecological deficit of each province was different,but it was more serious in Shanxi and Henan Province