Glossary definitions

An area of land that contains a mosaic of ecosystems, including human-dominated ecosystems.

The control (whether through ownership, lease, concession, contracts, quotas, or general power) of larger than locally-typical amounts of land by any persons or entities (public or private, foreign or domestic) via any means (‘legal’ or ‘illegal’) for purposes of speculation, extraction, resource control or commodification at the expense of agroecology, land stewardship, food sovereignty and human rights. It is sometimes also called land grabbing.

See ‘Grabbing (of wild species and space)’.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in force since 1994, defines the rights and obligations of nations (167 at present) with regard to the use of the world's oceans and their resources, and the protection of the marine and coastal environment. The UNCLOS also defines national marine jurisdiction on maritime territories and provides guidelines related to the use and management of marine environment and resources.

The dissolution and movement of dissolved substances by water.

The total area of green leaves per unit area of ground covered (FAO, 2018a).

An environmentally damaging activity that is relocated elsewhere after being stopped locally.

Phenomena whereby the reduction in emissions (relative to a baseline) in a jurisdiction/sector associated with the implementation of mitigation policy is offset to some degree by an increase outside the jurisdiction/sector through induced changes in consumption, production, prices, land use and/or trade across the jurisdictions/sectors. Leakage can occur at a number of levels, be it a project, state, province, nation or world region.

Learning refers to the process of knowledge and skills acquisition. Studies on learning have payed attention to the different ways people acquire knowledge, practices, and beliefs (i.e. imitation, copying, trial-and-error), but also to the dynamics of kn.

Learning refers to the process of knowledge and skills acquisition. Studies on learning have payed attention to the different ways people acquire knowledge, practices, and beliefs (i.e. imitation, copying, trial-and-error), but also to the dynamics of knowledge transmission, or the different sources from which knowledge, practices, and beliefs are passed from one individual to another (i.e. from parents, peers, teachers, prestigious peoples, media, etc.). Social learning is defined as the acquisition of new information by copying others, and it is a key human strategy that allows for the accumulation of culturally transmitted knowledge.

see “Policy instruments”.

any entity that has the ability to conclude and negotiate international agreements in accordance with its external commitments; become a member of international organizations; join international conventions, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, stipulated in Article 6(2) of the Treaty on European Union

Legal pluralism is a sensitizing concept for situations in which people draw upon several legal systems, irrespective of their status within the state legal system.

Degree of detail captured in an analysis. A high level of resolution implies a highly detailed analysis, usually associated with finer spatial and temporal scales. A low level of resolution implies a less detailed analysis, usually associated with coarser spatial and temporal scales.

Frames that illustrate the in which people conceptualise how nature matters. Life frames mediate between ways of being/living and the prioritization of different sets of broad and specific values. The four archetypes of living from, living in, living with and living as nature are not mutually exclusive. They offer a range of sources-of-concern for nature that can overlap or be emphasized in diverse contexts (section 2.2.6).

Referred to simply as karsts are sedimentary rock outcrops that consist primarily of calcium carbonate.

Imprecise meaning of words, including vagueness and ambiguity.

Livelihood diversification is defined as the process by which rural families construct a diverse portfolio of activities and social support capabilities in their struggle for survival and in order to improve their standards of living”.

The capacity of all people across generations to sustain and improve their livelihood opportunities and well-being despite environmental, economic, social and political disturbances.

Adequate and sustainable access to income and resources to meet basic needs (including adequate access to food, potable water, health facilities, educational opportunities, housing, time for community participation and social integration).

Within the context of the IPBES Conceptual Framework - a perspective on good quality of life based on the interdependence that exists among human beings, other living species and elements of nature. It implies that we should live peacefully alongside all other organisms even though we may need to exploit other organisms to some degree.

adj. Referring to places, people, things or events within a short distance of an identified locality.

Local communities” refers to non-indigenous communities with historical linkages to places and livelihoods characterized by long- term relationships with the natural environment, often over generations.

A group of individuals that interact within their immediate surroundings and/or direct mutual influences in their daily life. In this sense, a rural village, a clan in transhumance or the inhabitants of an urban neighbourhood can be considered a local community, but not all the inhabitants of a district, a city quarter or even a rural town. A local community could be permanently settled or mobile.

Knowledge about nature, including organisms (animals and plants), ecosystems and ecological interactions, held by local people who interact with and use natural resources. This is a manifestation of indigenous local knowledge (ILK), but includes also knowledge held by those local people who may not be officially recognized as indigenous (in legal terms). Like traditional ecological knowledge, LEK can be seen as a knowledge-practice-belief complex. In other words, it is a cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission (Berkes, 2012). This encompasses ways of knowing and doing, which are dynamic concepts relying on building on experience and adapting to changes, thereby imbibe a strong learning-by-doing component.

Local economies and subsistence economies are defined as those that are small in scale and in which the use of resources (including wild species) are limited and exclusively used to meet local needs rather than accumulated or sold for profit.

Logging is defined as the removal of whole trees or woody parts of trees from their habitat. Logging generally results in the death of the tree, but also includes cases in which it may not, such as coppicing. Logging occurs in forests that may be classified as primary, naturally regenerating, planted, and plantation. This assessment does not address logging from plantation forests except as it has bearing on the practice in the other forest types. Harvest of non-woody parts of trees ( leaves, propagules and bark) are here defined as gathering.

The measure of humanity's use of fresh water as represented in volumes of water consumed and/or polluted.

The water footprint measures the amount of water used to produce each of the goods and services we use. It can be measured for a single process, such as growing rice, for a product, such as a pair of jeans, for the fuel we put in our car, or for an entire.

A situation where powerful actors are able to take control of, or reallocate to their own benefits, water resources already used by local communities or feeding aquatic ecosystems on which their livelihoods are based (Mehta et al., 2012).

An excess of water on top and/or within the soil, leading to reduced air availability in the soil for long periods.

Vegetation, and specially aquatic plants, can assist in removing sediments and nutrients and other impurities from water.

The ratio of total water withdrawal to the water availability including environmental flow requirements. Higher WSI values lead to decreasing water security.

The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability.

The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution, water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems.

The reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks.

The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio- economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability.

Physiological stress experienced by a plant as a result of a lack of available moisture or a low water potential in the surrounding soil; an instance of this. Economic or political pressures in a country or region as a result of insufficient access to fresh water.

Water stress occurs in an organism when the demand for water exceeds the available amount during a certain period or when poor quality restricts its use.

The upper surface of the zone of ground water.

The ratio between effective water use and actual water withdrawal. In irrigation, it represents the ratio between estimated plant water requirements (through evapotranspiration) and actual water withdrawal.

A plant that is a pest (q.v.) in a particular circumstance.

See 'Social welfare'.

The provision of a minimal level of well- being (q.v.) and social support for all citizens.

Consensus from a comprehensive meta- analysis7 or other synthesis, or multiple independent studies that agree.

Human well-being is a state in which there is opportunity for satisfying social relationships and where human needs are met, where one can act meaningfully to pursue one's goals and where one enjoys a satisfactory quality of life”.

A perspective on a good life that comprises access to basic materials for a good life, freedom and choice, health and physical well-being, good social relations, security, peace of mind and spiritual experience.

A perspective on a good life that comprises access to basic resources, freedom and choice, health and physical well-being, good social relationships, security, peace of mind and spiritual experience. Human well-being is a state of being with others and the environment. Well-being is achieved when individuals and communities can act meaningfully to pursue their goals and everyone can enjoy a good quality of life. The concept of human well-being is used in many western societies and its variants, together with living in harmony with nature, and living well in balance and harmony with Mother Earth.

A perspective on a good life that comprises access to basic resources, freedom and choice, health and physical well-being, good social relationships, security, peace of mind and spiritual experience. Well-being is achieved when individuals and communities can act meaningfully to pursue their goals and can enjoy a good quality of life. The concept of human well- being is used in many western societies and its variants, together with living in harmony with nature, and living well in balance and harmony with Mother Earth. All these are different perspectives on a good quality of life.

A perspective on a good life that comprises access to basic resources, freedom and choice, health and physical well-being, good social relationships, security, peace of mind and spiritual experience. Well-being is achieved when individuals and communities can act meaningfully to pursue their goals and can enjoy a good quality of life. The concept of human well-being is used in many western societies and its variants, together with living in harmony with nature, and living well in balance and harmony with Mother Earth. All these are different perspectives on a good quality of life.