Resumo

FOUCHE, Desire; SMIT, Hennie  e  HENRICO, Ivan. The Ecological Footprint of Individual Members at the Army Support Base, Eastern Cape. SM [online]. 2023, vol.51, n.2, pp.99-124. ISSN 2224-0020.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5787/51-2-1397.

The ecological footprint is a measure that calculates the demand for resources from the environment based on daily people's needs and desires. The study, on which this article is based, used the GFN online calculator to measure the ecological footprint of individual members of the Army Support Base, Eastern Cape. The ecological footprint online survey was used to obtain the quantitative data from the online results of each participant. Statistical analysis was performed using the STATISTICA 14.0 program to calculate the ecological footprints of the individual members of the Army Support Base, Eastern Cape and their combined ecological footprints. Officers recorded the highest ecological footprints in most categories, while NCOs, Private Services Act personnel, and privates in general recorded the lowest scores. Males scored higher than females in almost all categories, suggesting that they have a higher ecological footprint than females, and therefore a larger impact on the environment. The results of this study are significant as it is the first ecological footprint calculation performed for a military base in South Africa and one of only a few global studies similarly targeting the military. These results can be used as a basis for further studies in units of the South African National Defence Force, ultimately leading to more sustainable resource use.

Palavras-chave : Ecological Footprint; South African National Defence Force; Military; Sustainable Resource; Environmental Management.

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