The branch of biological science concerned with the conservation, management, and protection of vulnerable species, populations, and ecosystems. Also see 'Biological conservation'.

The positive impacts on people and ecosystems due to conservation.

Approach to managing agro-ecosystems for improved and sustained productivity, increased profits and food security while preserving and enhancing the resource base and the environment. It is characterized by three linked principles, namely: (i) continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance; (ii) permanent organic soil cover; and (iii) diversification of crop species grown in sequences and/or associations. This covers a wide range of approaches from minimum till to permaculture/mimicking nature.

The proportion of possible links between species that actually occur (or have been observed to occur).

Refers to a situation where opposing attitudes, beliefs, identities, interests, norms or values coexist. This can lead to an active disagreement between people. Conflicts are likely to arise when individuals or groups in a given decision-making process feel their values are being ignored; or when they cannot agree on the underlying value rationality, or the way in which values will be integrated, traded-off or reconciled to inform a given decision. When different values collide in a decision-making situation, the conflict can be described as a value conflict.

Conflict is defined as when levels of armed violence due to political insecurity, instability, or civil or international war are substantially higher than in non-conflict times. This leads to a disruption of economies, government services and the extensive movement of people to flee conflict zones for personal safety and/or better opportunities.

See certainty.

The Platform's conceptual framework is a tool for building shared understanding across disciplines, knowledge systems and stakeholders of the interplay between biodiversity and ecosystem drivers, and of the role they play in building a good quality of life.

The second stage of cognitive process. Perceptions are selected, organized, classified and hierarchized into concepts. This process is influenced by collective filters which are human systems of values, norms, and beliefs. Concepts do not come alone, but as integrated networks. See also ‘Reality’; Perceptions; Worldviews”.

A given project attains zero net biodiversity loss when its unavoidable impacts on biodiversity are balanced out or compensated by actions such as conservation, rehabilitation, restoration and/or compensation of residual impacts that avoid or minimize losses. In this case, compensation refers to environmental compensation and not socioeconomic compensation to the people who are affected by the project’s impact.