Glossary definitions

A general term used to refer to pre-historical and historical periods describing the development of humanity. Different classifications of periods exist reflecting different interpretation of human history.

Rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or any other status. These rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

Instruments for the protection and promotion of human rights, including general instruments, instruments concerning specific issues, and instruments relating to the protection of particular groups.

The inalienable fundamental rights of each and every human being as acknowledged in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948). Arguments of intragenerational justice basically refer to human rights.

See Values.

A state of existence that fulfils various human needs, including material living conditions and quality of life, as well as the ability to pursue one's goals, to thrive, and feel satisfied with one's life (IPCC, 2020). The IPBES definition is consistent with this definition but notes that well-being also includes non-material living conditions and cultural identity. The phrase ‘Good quality of Life' as used in this report (see glossary entry) is intended to be inclusive of both the human well-being definitions given above.

See Good Quality of Life.

see well-being.

The ways in which people relate to and engage with the natural environment, which are diverse and linked to worldviews, values and attitudes embedded in daily life.

Humanistic economics intend to show that humankind is perfectly capable of living without the profit motive, and has done so for most of its history. It goes again the tendency to consider the profit motive as self-evident, an idea that underlies many political decisions. See also Behavioural economics.

Decomposition of organic material followed by a synthesis of humic substances.

The capture by humans of wild mammals, birds, and reptiles, whether dead or alive, irrespective of the techniques used to capture them or the reasons to do so.

See models.

Models that combine correlative and process-based modelling approaches.

An oil and gas well development process that typically involves injecting water, sand, and chemicals under high pressure into a bedrock formation via the well. This process is intended to create new fractures in the rock as well as increase the size, extent, and connectivity of existing fractures. Hydraulic fracturing is a well-stimulation technique used commonly in low-permeability rocks like tight sandstone, shale, and some coal beds to increase oil and/or gas flow to a well from petroleum-bearing rock formations.

A fissure on the floor of a sea out of which flows water that has been heated by underlying magma. The water can be as hot as 400°C (752°F) and usually contains dissolved minerals that precipitate out of it upon contact with the colder seawater, building a stack of minerals, or chimney. Hydrothermal vents form an ecosystem for microbes and animals, such as tube worms, giant clams, and blind shrimp, that can with stand the hostile environment. The hottest hydrothermal vents are called black smokers because they spew iron and sulfide which combine to form iron mono sulfide, a black compound.

Low dissolved oxygen levels in coastal and oceanic waters (<2mL per liter of water), either naturally occurring or as a result of a degradation (e.g. eutrophication).

The ways in which people understand who they are, their belonging and role in society, and their relation to their broader environment.

The harvesting, processing, transporting, buying or selling of timber in contravention of national and international laws.

Illegal is defined in the context of this assessment when it violates laws and regulations.

A broad term which includes: fishing and fishing-related activities conducted in contravention of national, regional and international laws; non-reporting, misreporting or under- reporting of information on fishing operations and their catches; fishing by “Stateless” vessels; fishing in convention areas of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) by non-party vessels; fishing activities which are not regulated by States and cannot be easily monitored and accounted for.

Non-tangible aspects of cultural value that are passed from one human generation to the next.

A formal, evidence-based procedure that assesses the economic, social and environmental effects of public policy or of any human activity.

changes to nature, nature’s contributions to people, and/or the good quality of life (Ricciardi et al., 2013). Impacts can be observed or unobserved. More specifically, impacts to nature (formerly ‘ecological impact’), is defined as a measurable change to the properties of an ecosystem (Ricciardi et al., 2013), and implies that all introduced species can have an impact, even when not yet established or widespread, which may vary in magnitude, simply by integration into the ecosystem.

A Key Biodiversity Area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for bird populations.

The conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties.

An economic concept that seeks to incorporate natural capital into national wealth estimates, beyong GDP.

Absence of a common unit along which values can be measured and compared.

Limited evidence, recognising major knowledge gaps.

A quantitative or qualitative factor or variable that provides a simple, measurable and quantifiable characteristic or attribute responding in a known and communicable way to a changing environmental condition, to a changing ecological process or function, or to a changing element of biodiversity.

Natural and modified ecosystems including significant biodiversity, ecological services and cultural values voluntarily conserved by indigenous and local communities through customary laws or other effective means.

Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) refers to dynamic bodies of integrated, holistic, social and ecological knowledge, practices and beliefs pertaining to the relationship of living beings, including people, with one another and with their environments.

Indigenous and local knowledge systems are social and ecological knowledge practices and beliefs pertaining to the relationship of living beings, including people, with one another and with their environments. Such knowledge can provide information, methods, theory and practice for sustainable ecosystem management.

Social and ecological knowledge practices and beliefs pertaining to the relationship of living beings, including people, with one another and with their environments. Such knowledge can provide information, methods, theory and practice for sustainable ecosystem management.

A cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment. It is also referred to by other terms such as: indigenous, local or traditional knowledge; traditional ecological/environmental knowledge (TEK); farmers' or fishers' knowledge; ethnoscience; indigenous science; folk science.

The knowledge, practices and innovations embedded in the relationships of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to nature. ILK is situated in a place and social context, but at the same time open and hybrid, continuously evolving through the combination of written, oral, tacit, practical, and scientific knowledge attained from various sources, and validated by experimentation and in practice of direct interaction with nature. See chapter 1 (section 1.3.2.1) and chapter 2.2 (section 2.2.2) for a discussion on the differences between ‘indigenous knowledge’ and ‘local knowledge’.

Indigenous and local knowledge holders are understood to be persons situated in the collective knowledge systems of indigenous peoples and local communities with knowledge from their own indigenous peoples and local communities; indigenous and local knowledge experts are understood to be persons from indigenous peoples and local communities who have knowledge about indigenous and local knowledge and associated issues (they may also be indigenous and local knowledge holders); and experts on indigenous and local knowledge are understood to be persons who have knowledge about indigenous and local knowledge and associated issues, not necessarily from indigenous peoples and local communities.

A cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment. It is also referred to by other terms such as: Indigenous, local or traditional knowledge, traditional ecological/environmental knowledge, farmers’ or fishers’ knowledge, ethnoscience, indigenous science, folk science.

Social and ecological knowledge practices and beliefs pertaining to the relationship of living beings, including people, with one another and with their environments. Such knowledge can provide information, methods, theory and practice for sustainable ecosystem management.

Human communities that are self- identified as indigenous; descent from the occupants of a territory prior to an act of conquest; possession of a common history, language, and culture regulated by customary laws that are distinct from national cultures; possession of a common land; exclusion or marginalization from political decision-making; and claims for collective and sovereign rights that are unrecognized by the dominating and governing group(s) of the state. Indigenous Peoples are often thought of as the primary stewards of the planet's biological resources. Their ways of life and cosmovisions (value systems that interpret and relate the world, life, things and time) have contributed to the protection of the natural environment on which they depend.

Social groups of indigenous peoples.

Are the holders of unique languages, knowledge systems and beliefs and possess invaluable knowledge of practices for the sustainable management of natural resources based on their traditional values, visions, needs and priorities. Are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environments. Indigenous people have retained social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live.

Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are, typically, ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently.

Typically, ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. IPBES does not intend to create or develop new definitions of what constitutes indigenous peoples and local communities.

The term “Indigenous Peoples and local communities” and its acronym “IPLC” are widely used by international organizations and conventions to refer to individuals and groups who self-identify as indigenous or as members of distinct local communities. We adopt this terminology in this assessment, with particular emphasis on those who “maintain an inter-generational historical connection to place and nature through livelihoods, cultural identity, languages, worldviews, institutions, and ecological knowledge”.

Ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. IPBES does not intend to create or develop new definitions of what constitutes indigenous peoples and local communities.

Indigenous people are also known as first peoples, aboriginal peoples, native peoples, or autochthonous peoples, are ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. The distinctive groups, usually maintaining traditions or other aspects of an early culture that is associated with a given region, are protected in international or national legislation as having a set of specific rights based on their linguistic and historical ties to a particular territory, prior to later settlement, development, and or occupation of a region. Local community is a self-identified human group that relates to a life environment in collective ways that participate to define a shared territory and culture. The members of a local community have frequent chances of direct (possibly face-to-face) encounters and possess some common history, traditions, institutions, language, values and life plans. A local community can be long-standing (‘traditional') or relatively new, include a single or multiple ethnic identities and be permanently settled or mobile. A local community should have a form of political identity that enables it to exercise its rights and responsibilities with respect to its territory and neighbors.

The Convention on Biological Diversity does not define the terms indigenous and local communities or Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples does not adopt or recommend a universal definition for Indigenous Peoples (Decision CBD/COP/DEC/14/13). As used in the global assessment, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) is a term used internationally by representatives, organizations, and conventions to refer to individuals and communities who are, on the one hand, self-identified as indigenous and, on the other hand, are members of local communities that maintain inter-generational connection to place and nature through livelihood, cultural identity and worldviews, institutions and ecological knowledge. The term is not intended to ignore differences and diversity within and among Indigenous Peoples and between them and local communities; Indigenous Peoples have recognized and distinct rights, which are not extendable to the broader and encompassing concept of local communities. See chapter 1 (Section 1.3.2.1).

Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are, typically, ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. IPBES does not intend to create or develop new definitions of what constitutes indigenous peoples and local communities.

Indigenous Peoples' and Local Community Conserved Areas and Territories, referred to as ICCAs, are natural and/or modified ecosystems containing significant biodiversity values, ecological services and cultural values, voluntarily conserved by Indigenous peoples and local communities, both sedentary and mobile, through customary laws or other effective means. ICCAs can include ecosystems with minimum to substantial human influence as well as cases of continuation, revival or modification of traditional practices or new initiatives taken up by communities in the face of new threats or opportunities. Several of them are inviolate zones ranging from very small to large stretches of land and waterscapes.