By Yi Whan-woo

Korea’s ecological footprint, or its demand on the ecosystem, is 1.7 times greater than the global average, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Each Korean requires 4.6 hectares of land to live on, exceeding the world’s average of 2.7 hectares, the WWF said in the “Living Planet Report.”

The nation placed 29th on the ecological footprint list of 149 countries.

An ecological footprint is a measure of how much biologically productive land and sea people require in order to absorb their waste and produce all the resources they consume. The higher the necessary amount, the longer it takes to regenerate biologically productive land and fishing grounds.

The major components of Korea’s footprint were the amount of land and sea needed to offset carbon emissions and fishing.

The country with the highest footprint with 11.85 hectares per person was Qatar, followed by Kuwait with 9.72 hectares and the United Arab Emirates with 8.44 hectares.

The global average is expected to go up as China is undergoing rapid economic development. The country was ranked 72nd with 2.1 hectares per person.

The WWF report said the rate has increased since 1970s. The five biggest challenges the Earth faces are the loss of certain natural habitats, overexploitation of wild species’ populations, pollution, climatic change and the increase of specific wildlife species.

It also said the Earth would need to be 1.5 times bigger to produce the resources people are consuming to avoid running out of them, adding it may need to be three times bigger by 2050.