Glossary definitions

Cultural landscapes express the long-term co-evolution and relationships between people and nature, influenced by internal and external forces affecting the aesthetic and productive configuration of land management, water bodies, wildlife, property systems, infrastructure and human settlements, and which are both a source and a product of changing social, institutional, economic, and cultural systems.

Cultural values are shared social values and norms, which are learned and dynamic, and which underpin attitudes and behavior and how people respond to events and opportunities, and affects the hierarchy of values people assign to objects, knowledge, stories, feelings, other beings, forms of social expressions, and behaviors.

A commonly accepted definition of culture refers to the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.

Culture is defined as a key determinant of, for example, what is defined as suitable food and preferred approaches to supporting human health.

An impact produced over a period of time.

The socially-embedded systems and institutions used within communities to regulate and manage land use and access, and which derive from the community itself rather than from the state.

Law consisting of customs that are accepted as legal requirements or obligatory rules of conduct; practices and beliefs that are so vital and intrinsic a part of a social and economic system that they are treated as if they were laws.

Customary law forms part of forms part of international and domestic law and stems from the customary norms of a particular group of peoples.

Law based on tradition in communities where the authority of traditional leadership is recognised. It exists where there is a commonly repeated practice which is accepted as law by the members of a community.

Law consisting of commonly repeated customs, practices and beliefs that are accepted as legal requirements or obligatory rules of conduct.

See Customary law.

Rights, such as land rights or political rights, that are granted by either customary or statutory law. Customary rights exist where there is a consensus of relevant actors considering them to be ‘law’.

Uses of biological resources in accordance with traditional cultural practices that are compatible with conservation or sustainable use requirements.

Land normally used for production and left to recover for part or all of a growing season (more in the case of swidden agriculture).

Family forestry is forest tenure and activities by persons with ownership or tenure rights to forest land. Persons owning or managing forests often include the whole family in the activities and the forest land goes from one generation to the next.

An area of land, a holding of any size from a small plot or garden (fractions of a hectare) to several thousand hectares that is devoted primarily to agriculture to produce food, fibre, or fuel. A farm may be owned and operated by an individual, family, community, corporation or a company, and may produce one to many types of produce or animal.

The modification or control of a process or system by its results or effects.

processes that either amplify (positive feedback loop) or diminish (negative feedback loop) the effects of a biological invasion. Feedback loops may make the impacts of biological invasions stronger or weaker, starting a chain reaction that repeats again and again. Negative feedback loop: A human-natural feedback that continually stabilizes or reduces ongoing or future biological invasions (also known as a ‘balancing’ feedback loop). Positive feedback loop: A human-natural feedback that continually increases ongoing or future biological invasions (also known as ‘exacerbating’ or ‘reinforcing’ feedback loops)

Species are considered to be feral if they or their ancestors were formerly domesticated, but they are now living independently of humans.

In agriculture, it is a defined area of cleared enclosed land used for cultivation or pasture.

A term used to describe the characteristics of fires that occur in a particular ecosystem over a period of time. Fire regimes are characterized based on a combination of factors including the frequency, intensity, size, pattern, season and severity of fires.

The practice of indigenous Australians to use fire to burn vegetation to facilitate hunting and to change the composition of the plant and animal species of an area. It was coined by Australian archaeologist Rhys Jones.

A unit determined by an authority or other entity that is engaged in raising and/or harvesting fish. Typically, the unit is defined in terms of some or all of the following: people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats and purpose of the activities.

Generally, a fishery is an activity leading to harvesting of fish. It may involve capture of wild fish or raising of fish through aquaculture. Note that in this definition, the term fish includes all types of marine animals, fish, but also crustaceans, mollusks, echinoderms etc.

Fishing is defined as the removal from their habitats of aquatic animals (vertebrates and invertebrates) that spend their full life cycle in water (fish, some marine mammals, shellfish, shrimps, squids, corals). Fishing most often results in the death of the aquatic animal, but it may not in some cases. To reflect both situations, fishing has been sub-divided into a lethal and a “non-lethal” category. Lethal fishing is defined as the general and more usual meaning of fishing that leads to the killing of the animal, such as in traditional commercial fisheries. “Non-lethal fishing is defined as the temporary or permanent capture of live animals from their habitat without intended mortality, such as in aquarium fish trade or catch and release. However, unintended mortality may occur in “non-lethal” fishing and the term “non-lethal” is therefore put in quotes. The killing of species that spend part of their life cycle in terrestrial environments (e.g. walrus, sea turtles) is encompassed by the definition of hunting.

Fitness involves the ability of organisms- or populations or species- to survive and reproduce in the environment in which they find themselves, and thus contribute genes to the next generation (Orr, 2009).

Fitness involves the ability of organisms- or populations or species- to survive and reproduce in the environment in which they find themselves, and thus contribute genes to the next generation.

Species that, by being charismatic or famous, can attract funding which will help conservation of other species at the same time (ex.Giant Panda).

Linear areas of land within or at the edges of fields, farms, or other areas (rights of way, riparian areas, etc.) where flowering plants are seeded and encouraged to grow, often for the benefit of pollinators and other wildlife (q.v. insectory strips).

An animal that visits flowers (a.k.a. anthophile) but is not necessarily a pollinator.

Plants that are characterized by producing flowers, even if inconspicuous. They are collectively called Angiosperms and include most plants grown for food and fibre.

People's everyday understanding of the biological world-how they perceive, categorize, and reason about living kinds (Medin & Atran, 1999).

The units of meaning into which a language breaks up the universe for example, folk plant and animal taxa (Berlin, 1973).

Folk medicine is defined as the mixture of traditional healing practices and beliefs that involve use of algae, animals, fungi, and plants, spirituality and manual therapies or exercises in order to diagnose, treat or prevent an ailment or illness.

When all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.

The ability of a region or country to produce enough food (especially staple crops) without needing to buy or import additional food.

Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.

The right to define own policies and strategies for the sustainable production, distribution and consumption of food that guarantee the right to food for the entire population, on the basis of small and medium-sized production, respecting their own cultures and the diversity of peasant, fishing and indigenous forms of agricultural production, marketing and management of rural areas, in which women play a fundamental role.

An important ecological concept representing feeding relationships within a community and implying the transfer of food energy from its source in plants through herbivores to carnivores; normally, food webs consist of a number of food chains meshed together.

see prediction.

A reduction in the capacity of a forest to produce ecosystem services such as carbon storage and wood products as a result of anthropogenic and environmental changes.

A range of systems for the management of forest resources that are intermediate on a continuum between pure extraction and plantation management, and ranging from wild forests modified for increased production of selected products (e.g. fruit and nut trees) to anthropogenic forests with a high density of valuable species within a relatively diverse and complex structure.

A reduction of illegal logging by strengthening sustainable and legal forest management, improving governance and promoting trade in legally produced timber.

Forest management is defined as a practice about managing, using, conserving and repairing forest, woodlands and associated resources. Objectives and goals are fulfilled by implementing and regulating tree management and harvesting practices stipulated in forest management plans.

A shift, usually assessed at the national scale, from net forest loss to net forest gain, whether through natural recovery or planted forests.

A minimum area of land of 0.05-1.0 hectares with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than 10-30 per cent with trees with the potential to reach a minimum height of 2-5 metres at maturity in situ. A forest may consist either of closed forest formations where trees of various stories and undergrowth cover a high proportion of the ground or open forest.

A minimum area of land of 0.05 - 1.0 hectares with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than 10?30 per cent with trees with the potential to reach a minimum height of 2?5 m at maturity in situ. A forest may consist either of closed fore.

A minimum area of land of 0.05 - 1.0 hectares with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than 10-30 per cent with trees with the potential to reach a minimum height of 2-5 m at maturity in situ. A forest may consist either of closed forest formations where trees of various stories and undergrowth cover a high proportion of the ground or open forest.

Include law and policies e.g. regulations and directives, and fiscal, agricultural or planning policies, to name just a few examples. These are typically based on legal instruments, treaties and customary laws. Informal institutions in turn include social norms and rules, such as those related to collective action.