The study of ecological footprint and carrying capacity is a crucial basis for the settlement of environment deterioration and the realization of regional sustainable development. Based on ecological footprint models, scientists from Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (CAREERI) estimated the ecological footprint and carrying capacity of Xizang during 2005-2010. According to the land use properties in Xizang, the following six types were categorized: fossil fuel land, arable land, grassland, woodland, waters, and construction area. 

It is found that the average ecological footprint per capita of Xizang increased from 0.34 hm² per capita in 2005 to 0.83 hm² per capita in 2010. Among the above six land use types, woodland consumption was the most important part, accounting for 39.8% of the total consumption. The average arable land consumption per capita stayed relatively stable, from 0.18 to 0.2 hm² per capita. Other types of land consumption constituted only a very small amount of the overall consumption. The average ecological caring capacity per capital showed a marginally decreasing trend, from 14.78 hm² per capita in 2005 to 13.77 hm² per capita in 2010. The ecological caring capacity per capita of woodland, grassland and fossil fuel lands accounted for 95% of the total capacity, and those of the former two and the arable land tended to decrease slowly during the study period. The average ecological caring capacity per capita of water lands did not very much. The average ecological surplus per capita is relatively large, though it decreased from 14.44 hm² per capita in 2005 to 12.94 in 2010. The largest part of Xizang’s ecological surplus was observed in woodland in which drastic fluctuation in ecological footprint were found. The ecological footprint of woodland and grassland accounts for 1%-30% and 5% of the overall carrying capacity, respectively. 

The ecological footprint of water land can be negligible due to its small amount. In all, the ecological footprint is much lower while the carrying capacity is much higher than the average values of China or the whole world, indicating that the economic development level of Xizang is still in a primary stage and there still exist great development potential. 

However, the ecological surplus tended to decrease during the last six years, suggesting that the environment deterioration does occur in some regions where the ecosystem maybe vulnerable. Therefore, when we are concentrating on the economic development of Xizang, we should pay close attention to the dangers brought by environment deterioration, which will ensure the sustainable development of resources and environment. 

This program is financially supported by the Major National Scientific Research Project on Global Changes (No. 2010CB951702) and the Strategic Leading S&T Projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (B type) (No. XDB03030100). This paper has been published on the Journal of Acta Ecological Sinica, 2014, 34(4).