What is "biocapacity"

n. The capacity of an ecosystem to provide resources and absorb wastes.

The biocapacity or biological capacity of an ecosystem is an estimate of its production of certain biological materials such as natural resources, and its absorption and filtering of other materials such as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. “Useful biological materials” are defined as those demanded by the human economy.

Biological capacity available per person (or per capita): There were 12 billion hectares of biologically productive land and water on this planet in 2008. Dividing by the number of people alive in that year, 6.7 billion, gives 1.8 global hectares per person . This assumes that no land is set aside for other species that consume the same biological material as humans.