Glossary definitions

Water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. Technically, brackish water contains between 0.5 and 30 grams of salt per litre—more often expressed as 0.5 to 30 parts per thousand (‰), which is a specific gravity of between 1.005 and 1.010. Thus, brackish covers a range of salinity regimes and is not considered a precisely defined condition.

refers to change across multiple spheres, with emerging consensus that transformation requires co-evolutionary change across different spheres of society, including personal, economic, political, institutional and technological ones.

offer a means to improve environmental management outcomes by spanning the science-policy interface to allow for the effective sharing of data, information, and knowledge. Bridging organizations are institutions that use specific mechanisms such as working groups to link and facilitate interactions among individual actors in a management setting.

They refer to life goals, general guiding principles and orientations towards the world that are informed by people’s beliefs and worldviews. Broad values include moral principles, such as justice, belonging, freedom, but also life goals, like enjoyment, health, prosperity. Broad values influence specific values and provide them with a general context and meaning.

Although no universal definition of buen vivir has been attained yet, it has four common constitutive elements: (a) the idea of harmony with nature (including its abiotic components); (b) vindication of the principles and values of marginalized/subordinated peoples; (c) the State as guarantor of the satisfaction of basic needs (such as education, health, food and water), social justice and equality; and (d) democracy. There are also two cross-cutting lines: buen vivir as a critical paradigm of Eurocentric (anthropocentric, capitalist, economistic and universalistic) modernity, and as a new intercultural political project.

An alternative to economic development-centered approaches, generally defined as forming part of the Andean indigenous cosmology, based on the belief that true wellbeing is only possible as part of a community in a broad sense, including people, nature and the Earth, linked by mutual responsibilities and obligations, and that the wellbeing of the community is above that of the individual.

A natural or anthropogenic feature which separates land uses.

Areas between core protected areas and the surrounding landscape or seascape which protect the network from potentially damaging external influences and which are essentially transitional areas.

Comprises urban design, land use and the transportation system, and encompasses patterns of human activity within the physical environment.

Members of the bee genus Bombus; they are social insects that form colonies with a single queen, or brood parasitic or cuckoo bumblebees (previously Psithyrus). Currently 262 species are known, which are found primarily in higher latitudes and at higher altitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, although they also occur in South America and New Zealand (where they were introduced).

The resulting negative impacts of ecosystem use and management on people and nature, including distant, diffuse and delayed impacts.

The IPBES Bureau is a subsidiary body established by the Plenary which carries out the governance functions of the Platform. It is made up of representatives nominated from each of the United Nations regions, and is chaired by the Chair of IPBES.

Within the context of IPBES - a subsidiary body established by the Plenary which carries out the administrative functions agreed upon by the Plenary, as articulated in the document on functions, operating principles and institutional arrangements of the Platform.

The IPBES Bureau is a subsidiary body established by the Plenary which carries out the governance functions of IPBES. It is made up of representatives nominated from each of the United Nations regions and is chaired by the Chair of IPBES.

The IPBES Bureau is a subsidiary body established by the Plenary which carries out the governance functions of IPBES. It is made up of representatives nominated from each of the United Nations regions, and is chaired by the Chair of IPBES.

An increase in density of shrubby or bushy tree vegetation in savannah or grassland systems.

Meat for human consumption derived from wild animals.

A form of subsistence hunting that entails the harvesting of wild animals for food and for non-food purposes, including for medicinal use.

Bushmeat (or wild meat) hunting is a form of hunting that entails the harvesting of wild animals for food and for non-food purposes, including for medicinal use.

Bushmeat (or wild meat) hunting is a form of subsistence hunting that entails the harvesting of wild animals for food and for non-food purposes, including for medicinal use.

See “wild meat”.

IPCC term case assumes that future developments follow those of the past and no changes in policies will take place.

The incidental capture of non-target species. The portion of a commercial fishing catch that consists of marine animals caught unintentionally.

The commercially undesirable species caught during a fishing process.

A large brown seaweed that typically has a long, tough stalk with a broad frond divided into strip.

Sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. They represent the most important sites for biodiversity worldwide, and are identified nationally using globally standardised criteria and thresholds.

Sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. They represent the most important sites for biodiversity conservation worldwide, and are identified nationally using globally standardized criteria and thresholds.

People and organizations who both can influence and become affected by decisions - that is, in certain contexts, they serve as influencers, while at the same time are involved in actual decision making.

A species whose impact on the community or ecosystem is disproportionately large relative to its abundance. Effects can be produced by consumption (trophic interactions), competition, mutualism, dispersal, pollination, disease, or habitat modification (non-trophic interactions).

A species whose impact on the community or ecosystem is disproportionately large relative to its abundance. Effects can be produced by consumption (trophic interactions), competition, mutualism, dispersal, pollination, disease, or habitat modification (no.

Species that maintain the organization and diversity of their ecological communities and are thus exceptional, relative to the rest of the community, in their importance. Species that, despite low biomass, exert strong effects on the structure of the communities they inhabit.

animals, plants and spirits, and such approach forms part of an indigenous cultural identity. Maintaining reciprocal and healthy relationships through a continuum with animals, plants and the lands where they reside involve the giving and taking of resources in appropriate ways, at appropriate times. In some cases, animals and plants are seen and treated as equals to humans and shape and reshape human relations with nature. Often, the values embedded in these relationships drive human behaviour and are elicited through certain valuation methods. Appreciation (no disregard) for spiritual entities (e.g. sacred mountains, rivers, among others) residing on ancestral lands, can be an example of a Kinship-central approach (focused on non-humans).

Actions of mutual support between humans such as sharing, gender equity, social equity, honesty, humility, modesty. Some of these elements can be revealed as relevant through valuation methods and approaches, as well as by practices associated with them.

Indigenous and local knowledge systems are understood to be dynamic bodies of integrated, holistic, social and ecological understandings, know-hows, practices and beliefs pertaining to the relationship of living beings, including people, with one another and with their environment. Indigenous and local knowledge is grounded in territory, is highly diverse and is continuously evolving through the interaction of experiences, skills, innovations and different types of wisdom expressed in multiple ways (written, oral, visual, tacit, practical and scientific). Such knowledge can provide information, methods, theory and practice for sustainable ecosystem management. Indigenous and local knowledge systems have been, and continue to be, empirically tested, applied, contested and validated through different means in different contexts. Western Academic knowledge systems relate to often explicit knowledge that has been derived from applying formal methods in academic or technical institutions.

A body of propositions that are adhered to, whether formally or informally, and are routinely used to claim truth.

A body of propositions that are adhered to, whether formally or informally, and are routinely used to claim truth. They are organized structures and dynamic processes (a) generating and representing content, components, classes, or types of knowledge, that are (b) domain-specific or characterized by domain-relevant features as defined by the user or consumer, (c) reinforced by a set of logical relationships that connect the content of knowledge to its value (utility), (d) enhanced by a set of iterative processes that enable the evolution, revision, adaptation, and advances, and (e) subject to criteria of relevance, reliability, and quality.

Organized structures and dynamic processes (a) generating and representing content, components, classes, or types of knowledge, that are (b) domain-specific or characterized by domain-relevant features as defined by the user or consumer, (c) reinforced by a set of logical relationships that connect the content of knowledge to its value (utility), (d) enhanced by a set of iterative processes that enable the evolution, revision, adaptation, and advances, and (e) subject to criteria of relevance, reliability, and quality.

A body of propositions that are adhered to, whether formally or informally, and are routinely used to claim truth. They are organised structures and dynamic processes: generating and representing content, components, classes, or types of knowledge, that are, domain-specific or characterised by domain-relevant features as defined by the user or consumer,, reinforced by a set of logical relationships that connect the content of knowledge to its value (utility),, enhanced by a set of iterative processes that enable the evolution, revision, adaptation, and advances, and,, subject to criteria of relevance, reliability, and quality.

An international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.

Paired catchment studies have been widely used to assess the likely impact of land use change on water yield around the world. Such studies involve the use of two catchments (drainage basins) with similar characteristics in terms of slope, aspect, soils, area, precipitation and vegetation located adjacent to each other. Following a calibration period, where both catchments are monitored, one of the catchments is subjected to treatment and the other remains as a control. This allows the climatic variability to be accounted for in the analysis. The change in water yield can then be attributed to changes in vegetation. The paired catchment studies reported in the literature can be divided into four broad categories: (i) afforestation experiments; (ii) regrowth experiments; (iii) deforestation experiments; and (iv) forest conversion experiments.

Information on environment event and trends (e.g. paleoclimate).

The share of all income received by the 10% people with highest disposable income divided by the share of all income received by the 40% people with the lowest disposable income (OECD, 2018b).

An organism that lives on or within another organism of a different species (the host) from which it obtains nourishment and to which it causes harm.

Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.

A variant or subset of governance which puts emphasis on democratic engagement, in particular through deliberative practices.

A key method that many indigenous communities apply in order to collect data, information and monitoring and to use it in science- policy- society interface processes.

Participatory research methods are a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods geared towards planning and conducting the research process with those people whose life-world and meaningful actions are under study (Bergold & Thomas, 2012). Participatory methods acknowledge the possibility, the significance, and the usefulness of involving research partners in the knowledge-production process (Bergold, 2007).

Participatory research methods are a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods geared towards planning and conducting the research process with those people whose life-world and meaningful actions are under study (Bergold & Thomas, 2012). Participatory methods acknowledge the possibility, the significance, and the usefulness of involving research partners in the knowledge- production process.

Specific methods employed to achieve active participation by all members of a group in a decision-making process (Chatty et al., 2003).

Specific methods employed to achieve active participation by all members of a group in a decision-making process.