Glossary definitions

a framework describing the policy process in terms of four linked phases: agenda setting, policy design, policy implementation, and policy review

Set of means or mechanisms to achieve a policy goal.

Policy instruments are understood as the different interventions (formal rules, laws, social norms and processes etc.) made by decision-makers (governments and public authorities, intergovernmental organizations, companies etc.) to ensure that (public) policy objectives are supported and achieved by influencing the behaviour of other stakeholders. The IPBES Catalogue differentiates among four different types of policy instruments: i) economic and financial instruments (financial incentives handling out or taking away economic resources), ii) legal and regulatory instruments (formal rules, laws and regulations), iii) rights-based instruments and customary norms (incl. human and collective rights as well as customary norms and institutions of indigenous people), and iv) social and cultural instruments (information-based instruments and voluntary or collective actions with an emphasis on the intertwined relationships between ecosystems and sociocultural dynamics).

Structured activities by which decision-making institutions attempt to realize or achieve a decision to support, effect or prevent social change expressed by a policy addressing an identified challenge or opportunity.

A combination of policy instruments which has evolved to influence the quantity and quality of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision in public and private sectors.

Policy options are defined as potential policies in terms of their ability to achieve the stated policy goals. Chapter 6 present the range of policy options available to support the sustainable use of wild species, at a range of spatial scales (local, national, international), and across five key practices (fishing, gathering, terrestrial animal harvesting, logging, and non-extractive practices). Four groups of policy instruments are explored: i) legal and regulatory, ii) economic and financial, iii) social and information based, and iv) rights-based and customary instruments.

constructs that depict the mix of institutional mechanisms that make up the governing arrangements addressing a particular problem (Herrick, 2019), noting that for the purpose of this assessment the term “regime” is used for a governance system, affecting more than one country, for a specific issue area, such as invasive alien species

see intervention scenarios.

Approaches and techniques based on science and other knowledge systems that can inform, assist and enhance relevant decisions, policy making and implementation at local, national, regional and global levels to protect nature, thereby promoting Nature’s contributions to people and a good quality of life.

Approaches and techniques based on science and other knowledge systems that can inform, assist and enhance relevant decisions, policy making and implementation at local, national, regional and global levels to protect nature, thereby promoting nature's benefits to people and a good quality of life.

Approaches and techniques based on science and other knowledge systems that can inform, assist and enhance relevant decisions, policy making and implementation at local, national, regional and global levels to protect nature, thereby promoting nature's contributions to people and a good quality of life.

Approaches and techniques based on science and other knowledge systems that can inform, assist and enhance relevant decisions, policymaking and implementation at local, national, regional and global levels to protect nature, thereby promoting nature's benefits to people and a good quality of life.

A definite course or method of action selected from among alternatives and in light of given conditions to guide and determine present and future decisions.

Policies are often cyclical in that emerging problems are addressed with the formulation of policies, followed by their implementation and subsequent evaluation. These stages in the policy cycle can be formalized with assigned roles and processes, and consist of many other sub-stages. For example, the policy formulation stage can include problem definition, identification of alternatives, consultations and public hearings, and finally, a decision on the chosen policy. Implementation can include allocating budgetary, assigning implementation roles to different actors, setting specific targets, and possibly developing guidelines. The evaluation and redefinition of the problem can be conducted with the help of formal monitoring systems as a periodic exercise, or it can be an ad-hoc process or a mere societal discussion of the impacts and consequences of existing policies.

Scenarios, including counterfactual scenarios, used in ex-post assessments of the gap between policy objectives and actual policy results, as part of the policy-review phase of the policy cycle.

Scenarios used in ex-ante assessments, to forecast the effects of alternative policy or management options (interventions) on environmental outcomes.

Approaches and techniques based on science and other knowledge systems, including indigenous and local knowledge, that can inform, assist and enhance relevant decisions, policy making and implementation at local, national, regional and global levels to protect nature, thereby promoting nature’s contributions to people and a good quality of life.

Approaches and techniques based on science and other knowledge systems that can inform, assist and enhance relevant decisions, policy making and implementation to protect nature, thereby promoting nature's benefits to people and a good quality of life.

Instruments used by governance bodies at all scales to implement their policies. Environmental policies, for example, could be implemented through tools such as legislation, economic incentives or dis-incentives, including taxes and tax exemptions, or tradable permits and fees.

The extent to which total seed and fruit production of an individual plant is limited by either the number or quality of the pollen grains deposited on flowers´ stigmas. In an agricultural context, pollen limitation is a synonym of pollination deficit.

The transfer of pollen from an anther to a stigma. Pollination may occur within flowers of the same plant, between flowers of the same plant, or between flowers of different plants (or combinations thereof).

A measure of the accomplishments of a single visit of an individual animal in terms of pollen deposited, pollen removed, or seeds produced.

A measure of both the costs (flower damage, pollen eaten, etc.) and benefits (pollen deposited, pollen removed, seeds produced, etc.) of a single visit of an individual animal.

The western science perspective for the benefits derived from pollination.

see Plant-pollinator Network.

An agent that transports pollen. Such agents may be animals of many kinds or physical (wind or water), or both.

Decrease in abundance or diversity, or both, of pollinators.

The degree to which either seed or fruit production, or both, of a plant becomes reduced in the total absence of animal pollinators.

The commonly accepted practice that those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment. A polluter pays principle aims at preventing anybody from reaping the benefits at the expense of (or even considerable harm to) other members of the society.

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change.

An organizational structure where multiple independent actors mutually order their relationships with one another under a general system of rules.

Refers the organisation of small-, medium-, and large-scale democratic units that each may exercise considerable independence to make and enforce rules within a circumscribed scope of authority for a specified geographical area. Some units may be general-purpose governments whereas others may be highly specialized.

The simultaneous cultivation or growth of two or more compatible agricultural products (intercropping, some crops and livestock, agroforestry, agriculture and aquaculture).

sometimes called molecular photocopying, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a fast and inexpensive technique used to amplify - copy - small segments of DNA. Because significant amounts of a sample of DNA are necessary for molecular and genetic analyses, studies of isolated pieces of DNA are nearly impossible without PCR amplification

A group composed of a collection of organisms in which the most recent common ancestor of all the included organisms is not included, usually because the common ancestor lacks the characteristics of the group. Polyphyletic taxa are considered unnatural, and usually are reclassified once they are discovered to be polyphyletic.

A decrease in the gene pool of the population due to an event that drastically reduces the size of that population, such as an environmental disaster, the hunting of a species to the point of extinction, or habitat destruction that results in the deaths of organisms. Due to the event, many alleles, or gene variants, that were present in the original population are lost and the remaining population has a very low level of genetic diversity.

The total genetic diversity and its distribution within and among a set of populations. It is shaped by many factors, including life history, population size, geographical or environmental barriers, gene flow, selection and population crashes or bottlenecks.

The pressure exerted by a fluid phase in a porous medium (soil or rock) composed of a solid framework and pores filled or partially filled with water or other fluid (Reid, 2013).

A level of personal or family income below which one is classified as poor according to governmental standards. It is also referred as poverty threshold.

A state of deprivation that is multidimensional in nature. Poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making.

Poverty is a state of economic deprivation. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services. Other corollaries of poverty are social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making.

A state of economic deprivation. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services. Other corollaries of poverty are social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making.

Power is the capacity of actors to mobilize agency, resources, and discourses, as well as to utilize or shape institutions to achieve a goal. Power can be both constraining and enabling, and the capacity of one actor can inhibit the capacity of another actor. Power in the context of human-nature relationships can be manifested in multiple and non-exclusive ways through discourses and social structures. Discursive power is the power to use discourses or knowledge production to shape worldviews, identities, and values. Related to discursive power is the power to frame how issues are understood, communicated, and discussed (framing power). Structural power is the result of historically-specific socio-cultural, political, and economic systems that reproduce social positions and/or hierarchies among social groups. Structural power relations determine, for example, who has the power to make rules regarding access, use, and responsibilities about nature/NCP, and who is excluded from this process (rule-making power); as well who has the formal or informal rights regarding nature/NCP which in turn determines the use of these assets and whose values are emphasized (operational power).

A customary action, habit, or behaviour; a manner or routine.

See “gathering”, “fishing”, “terrestrial animal harvesting”, “logging”, “non-extractive practices” and “non-lethal harvest”.

where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environment degradation (Principle 15 of the 1992 Rio Declaration,

Pertains to risk management and states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is not harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking an action. The principle is used to justify discretionary decisions when the possibility of harm from making a certain decision (e.g. taking a particular course of action) is not, or has not been, established through extensive scientific knowledge. The principle implies that there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm, when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk or if a potential plausible risk has been identified.

Pertains to risk management and states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is not harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking an action. The principle is used to justify discretionary decisions when the possibility of harm from making a certain decision ( taking a particular course of action) is not, or has not been, established through extensive scientific knowledge. The principle implies that there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm, when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk or if a potential plausible risk has been identified.

When a projection is branded most likely it becomes a forecast or prediction, often obtained using deterministic models, outputs of which can enable some level of confidence to be attached to projections.

The use of statisitics or other analytical methods to make predictions into the future.