A Spatially Explicit Assessment of the Biocapacity of Brazilian Forests from 2001 to 2019

Through the demand for resources and ecosystem services, the accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide poses a striking example of how humanity exceeds the regenerative and absorptive capacity of the biosphere. The magnitude to which humans exceed this threshold is often expressed using the Ecological Footprint (EF) methodology. This approach tracks the amount of biologically productive areas on Earth for which human demands compete. Forested land is an integral component of the EF methodology since it is expected to meet multiple competing demands. This paper assesses the forest component of the National Footprint & Biocapacity Accounting (NFBA) framework – the most widely known application of the EF methodology. It investigates the forest component from a methodological and data perspective through an extensive literature review. Since the discussion of outdated input data to the forest component seems neglected in the literature, this study explores alternative datasets to estimate a key parameter of the carbon Footprint (cF), the Average Forest Carbon Sequestration (AFCS). A spatially explicit analysis involving net primary productivity (NPP) and land use datasets is conducted to generate forest metrics and timeseries data for the country of Brazil between 2001 and 2019. The results are subsequently compared to forest area and biocapacity data found in the NFBAs. The outcome of this analysis presents forest extent and productivity data in a more nuanced manner which could work towards improving the robustness of the Accounts if applied at the global scale.