Abstract: Ecological footprint is a new reference method based on the consumption to evaluate the sustainable development of an area,while the ecological coordination degree assesses the sustainable development of an area transversally.The concept of ecological footprint,the calculation methods of ecological footprint and the ecological coordination degree are introduced in this paper.And the calculation and analysis results of the ecological footprint and the ecological coordination degree of Poyang Lake area in 2003 are presented.The results show that there is an ecological deficit in Poyang Lake area in 2003 and the ecological coordination quotiety is 1.3802,the ecological coordination degree is 43 showing that the development of Poyang Lake area is not coordinated and not sustainable.