Conference Agenda

One major challenge faced by worldwide economies is the decline and extinction of natural species as a direct consequence of human activities and the irreversible depletion of biodiversity. Today, the scientific debate is no more about the anthropogenic origins of biodiversity loss, but it concerns primarily more its effective magnitude and its ecological, economical and welfare consequences. To this end, quantifying and mapping human pressures on terrestrial ecosystems are crucial for anticipating biodiversity and socio-economic services losses. The Human Footprint Pressure (HFP) index is a comprehensive indicator of human pressure, taking into account various stressors related to human activities, such as agriculture, industry, population density, transportation. However, the results of these studies might not be representative of the effective impacts of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem services due to the limited sampling adopted methods. In this work, we propose a new sampling method to compute the human pressure index that incorporates additional variables. To predict this index in a rapid and efficient manner, we introduce an original methodology that combines the advantages of spatially balanced sampling with spatial prediction techniques, which may enhance the efficiency and forecasting ability of the model. Empirical work covers data from the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region, France.