Glossary definitions

a species, which cannot be reliably demonstrated as being either alien or native

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Sarukhán & Whyte, 2005) defined cultural ecosystem services as the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences. Cultural ecosystem services have been included in many other typologies of ecosystem services and referred to variously as cultural services (Constanza, 1997), life-fulfilling functions (Daily, 1999), information functions (de Groot et al., 2002), amenities and fulfilment (Boyd & Banzhaf, 2007), cultural and amenity services (de Groot et al., 2010, Kumar 2010), or socio-cultural fulfilment (Wallace, 2007).

Cultural change is a continuous process in any society, which can vary from gradual to stochastic, resulting from interactions between processes that are internal (ex. needs, local changes, crisis, mobility, ideas, invention and innovation, conflicts, etc.) and external (ex. diffusion, external agents, political and economic forces, conflicts, etc.) (Berry, 2008; Redfield et al., 1936). Cultural change is interpreted differently depending on theoretical orientation, such as diffusionism, modernization theory, world system theory, neocolonialism, globalization, among others (see Peña, 2005; Rudmin, 2009; Santos-Granero, 2009). Culture change can be selective or systemic and most often involves resistance and conflicts but can also lead to adaptation and resilience in changing contexts and environments.

Cultural continuity has been conceptualized within Indigenous health research that builds on cultural connectedness to emphasize the importance of intergenerational cultural connectedness, which is maintained through intact families and the engagement of elders, who pass traditions to subsequent generations. Cultural continuity also situates culture as being dynamic through the maintenance of collective memory, which may change over time.

As stated in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, Culture takes diverse forms across time and space. This diversity is embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities of the groups and societies making up humankind. As a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. In this sense, it is the common heritage of humanity and should be recognized and affirmed for the benefit of present and future generations..Cultural diversity widens the range of options open to everyone; it is one of the roots of development, understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence.

A category of ecosystem services first developed in the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) to refer to the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experience, including, knowledge systems, social relations, and aesthetic values. In this assessment, cultural ecosystem services are included as part of both material and non-material Nature’s contributions to people.

A category of ecosystem services first developed in the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) to refer to the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experience, including, e.g. knowledge systems, social relations, and aesthetic values (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). In the Global Assessment, cultural ecosystem services are included as part of both material and non-material nature’s contributions to people.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment defined cultural ecosystem services as the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences. Cultural ecosystem services have been included in many other typologies of ecosystem services and referred to variously as cultural services, life-fulfilling functions, information functions, amenities and fulfillment, cultural and amenity services, or socio-cultural fulfillment.

Cultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to, as part of the self-conception and self-perception to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality and any kind of social group that have its own distinct culture. In this way that cultural identity is both characteristic of the individual but also to the culturally identical group that has its members sharing the same cultural identity.

The culturally salient species that shape in a major way the cultural identity of a people, as reflected in the fundamental roles these species have in diet, materials, medicine, and/or spiritual practices.

Culturally keystone species designate species whose existence and symbolic value shape in a major way and over time, the cultural identity of a people, as reflected in the fundamental roles these species have in diet, materials, medicine, and/or spiritual practices.

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.

“online ordering, sale, communication and payment, in particular, business to consumer and consumer to consumer transactions but can also be applicable to business-to-business transactions”

An emerging field of law that seeks to develop a philosophy and practice of law that gives greater consideration to nature, by recognizing the interconnectedness of Earth's natural systems, the inherent rights and value of nature, and the dependence of humanity and all living beings on a healthy Earth.

Programmes designed to accredit goods and services that meet defined process standards designed to improve environmental performance and, in some cases, also to improve social welfare in places of production.

Shorthand for ecological communalism, an environmental philosophy based on simple living, self-sufficiency, sustainability, and local economies.

reciprocal interactions between ecological and evolutionary processes. Ecological and evolutionary time-scales can be so similar that evolutionary change might be rapid enough to influence ecological dynamics

A discipline which envisions building ecological data sets in the context of a data life cycle that encompasses all facets of data generation to knowledge creation, including planning, collection and organization of data, quality assurance and quality control, metadata creation, preservation, discovery, integration, and analysis and visualization.

Is only one type of environmental labelling, and refers specifically to the provision of information to consumers about the relative environmental quality of a product.

A concept that nature and natural things have a value in and of themselves, independent of any benefits they may have for human beings. See also Anthropocentrism and Reality”.

Ecolabelling is defined as a voluntary approach to environmental certification practiced around the world. Ecolabel is defined as a product that meets a wide range of environmental performance criteria or standards.

The point at which a relatively small change in external conditions causes a rapid change in an ecosystem. When an ecological threshold has been passed, the ecosystem may no longer be able to return to its state by means of its inherent resilience.

An assemblage or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area and in a particular time.

See 'Habitat connectivity'.

See Ecosystem degradation.

An event that can disrupt any ecological level, environmental component as well as the organizational status of a biological cycle of organisms. Disturbances are an important aspect in the natural selection and the whole biological evolution, as they modify the environment in which every living being performs its vital functions.

Ecological footprint has a variety of definitions, but is defined by the Global Footprint Network the as a measure of how much area of biologically productive land and water an individual, population or activity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates, using prevailing technology and resource management practices. The ecological footprint indicator used in this report is based on the Global Footprint Network unless otherwise specified.[ [0[

A measure of the amount of biologically productive land and water required to support the demands of a population or productive activity. Ecological footprints can be calculated at any scale: for an activity, a person, a community, a city, a region, a nation or humanity as a whole.

Ecological infrastructure refers to the natural or semi-natural structural elements of ecosystems and landscapes that are important in delivering ecosystem services. It is similar to ‘green infrastructure', a term sometimes applied in a more urban context. The ecological infrastructure needed to support pollinators and improve pollination services includes patches of semi-natural habitats, including hedgerows, grassland and forest, distributed throughout productive agricultural landscapes, providing nesting and floral resources. Larger areas of natural habitat are also ecological infrastructure, although these do not directly support agricultural pollination in areas more than a few kilometers away from pollinator- dependent crops.

Ecological infrastructure refers to the natural or semi-natural structural elements of ecosystems and landscapes that are important in delivering ecosystem services. It is similar to ‘green infrastructure', or ‘green and blue infrastructure' a term sometimes applied in a more urban context. The ecological infrastructure needed to support pollinators and improve pollination services includes patches of semi-natural habitats, including hedgerows, grassland and forest, distributed throughout productive agricultural landscapes, providing nesting and floral resources. Larger areas of natural habitat are also ecological infrastructure, although these do not directly support agricultural pollination in areas more than a few kilometers away from pollinator-dependent crops.

Ecological infrastructure refers to the natural or semi-natural structural elements of ecosystems and landscapes that are important in delivering ecosystem services. It is similar to 'green infrastructure', a term sometimes applied in a more urban context. The ecological infrastructure needed to support pollinators and improve pollination services includes patches of semi-natural habitats, including hedgerows, grassland and forest, distributed throughout productive agricultural landscapes, providing nesting and floral resources. Larger areas of natural habitat are also ecological infrastructure, although these do not directly support agricultural pollination in areas more than a few kilometers away from pollinator-dependent crops.

The natural or semi-natural structural elements of ecosystems and landscapes that are important in delivering ecosystem services. It is similar to green infrastructure, a term sometimes applied in a more urban context. The ecological infrastructure needed to support pollinators and improve pollination services includes patches of semi-natural habitats, including hedgerows, grassland and forest, distributed throughout productive agricultural landscapes, providing nesting and floral resources. Larger areas of natural habitat are also ecological infrastructure, although these do not directly support agricultural pollination in areas more than a few kilometres away from pollinator- dependent crops.

The ability of an ecosystem to support and maintain ecological processes and a diverse community of organisms.

Non-human entities as subjects of justice (rights-holders). Rights of nature vs. rights to nature.

The take-over of local natural resources by private and/or state interests, and the gradual or immediate disorganization of the ecosystem via withdrawals and additions.

The physical and biological actions or events that link organisms and their environment.

As explained by Thompson et al. (2011): From ecology based on interactions to solidarity based on links between individuals united around a common goal and conscious of their common interests and their moral obligation and responsibility to help others, we define ecological solidarity as the reciprocal interdependence of living organisms amongst each other and with spatial and temporal variation in their physical environment.

Any system that maintains efficient production by optimal management of naturally occurring ecological functions and biodiversity. To be put in place, understandings are required of the relations between land use at different scales and the community composition of ecosystem service-providing organisms above- and below-ground, and the flow, stability, contribution to yield, and management costs of the multiple services delivered by these organisms.