Abstract:The study of ecological footprint and carrying capacity is a crucial basis for the settlement of environment deterioration and the realization of regional sustainable development. Based on ecological footprint models, this paper estimated the ecological footprint and carrying capacity of Tibet during 2005-2010. According to the land use properties in Tibet, the following six types were categorized: fossil fuel land, arable land, grassland, woodland, waters, and construction area. We found that the average ecological footprint per capita of Tibet increased from 0.34 hm2 per capita in 2005 to 0.83 hm2 per capita in 2010. Among the above 6 land use types, woodland consumption was the most important part, accounting for 39.8% of the total consumption. The average arable land consumption per capita stayed relatively stable, from 0.18 to 0.2 hm2 per capita. Other types of land consumption constituted only a very small amount of the overall consumption. The average ecological caring capacity per capital showed a marginally decreasing trend, from 14.78 hm2 per capita in 2005 to 13.77 hm2 per capita in 2010. The ecological caring capacity per capita of woodland, grassland and fossil fuel lands accounted for 95% of the total capacity, and those of the former two and the arable land tended to decrease slowly during the study period. The average ecological caring capacity per capita of waterlands did not vary much. The average ecological surplus per capita is relatively large, though it decreased from 14.44 hm2 per capita in 2005 to 12.94 in 2010. The largest part of Tibet's ecological surplus was observed in woodland in which drastic fluctuations in ecological footprint were found. The ecological footprint of woodland and grassland accounts for 1%-30% and 5% of the overall carrying capacity, respectively. The ecological footprint of waterland can be negligible due to its small amount. In all, the ecological footprint is much lower while the carrying capacity is much higher than the average values of China or the whole world, indicating that the economic development level of Tibet is still in a primary stage and there still exist great development potential. However, the ecological surplus tended to decrease during the last 6 years, suggesting that the environment deterioration does occur in some regions where the ecosystem maybe vulnerable. Therefore, when we are concentrating on the economic development of Tibet, we should pay close attention to the dangers brought by environment deterioration, which will ensure the sustainable development of resources and environment.