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Glossary definitions

The IPBES glossary terms definitions page provides definitions of terms used in IPBES assessments. Some definitions in this online glossary have been edited for consistency. Please refer to the specific assessment glossary for citations/authorities of definitions. 

We invite you to report any errors or omissions to [email protected].

Concept Definition Deliverable(s)
procedural justice

refers to fairness in the political processes that allocate resources and resolve disputes. It involves recognition, inclusion, representation and participation in decision-making.

Values assessment
process-based model

A model in which relationships are described in terms of explicitly stated processes or mechanisms based on established scientific understanding, and model parameters therefore have clear ecological interpretation, defined beforehand.

Scenarios and models assessment
process-based model

See models.

Europe and Central Asia assessment
producer surplus

The amount that producers benefit by selling at a market price that is higher than the least that they would be willing to accept for that good or service. It is roughly equal to profit (q.v.): producers are not normally willing to sell at a loss, and are normally indifferent to selling at a break-even price.

Pollination assessment
production function

A mathematical equation or graph that shows the relationship between physical inputs and physical outputs for a business.

Pollination assessment
profit

The financial gain, especially the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something.

Pollination assessment
projection

Any description of the future, and the pathway leading to it.

Scenarios and models assessment
propagule pressure

The quantity, quality and frequency of propagules (such as spores, eggs, larvae, or adults) released in a given location. This term can be seen as the introduction effort, i.e. the pool of individuals introduced in a new ecosystem/area/region and the number of times it is released.

Americas assessment
propagule pressure

a measure of introduction intensity, including release from captivity or cultivation, comprising both the number of individuals of a species introduced per introduction (propagule size) and the frequency of introductions

Invasive alien species assessment
protected area

A protected area is a clearly defined geographical space, recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.

Asia-Pacific assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment, Americas assessment, Africa assessment, Sustainable use assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme), Pollination assessment
protected area downgrading, downsizing and degazettement

Refers to legal changes that ease restrictions on the use of a protected area, shrink a protected area's boundaries or eliminate legal protections entirely (Mascia & Pailler, 2011).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
protected area

A clearly defined geographical space, recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
provisioning service

The products people obtain from ecosystems; may include food, freshwater, timber, fibres, medicinal plants.

Africa assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment, Sustainable use assessment
public-private partnership

A long-term contract between a private party and a government entity, for providing a public asset or service, in which the private party bears significant risk and management responsibility and remuneration is linked to performance.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
purchasing power parity

An economic theory that estimates the amount of adjustment needed on the exchange rate between countries in order for the exchange to be equivalent to each currency’s purchasing power. It states that exchange rates between currencies are in equilibrium when their purchasing power is the same in each of the two countries. This means that the exchange rate between two countries should equal the ratio of the two countries’ price level of a fixed basket of goods and services.

Pollination assessment
radiative forcing

The measurement of the capacity of a gas or other forcing agents to affect that energy balance, thereby contributing to climate change. Put more simply, RF expresses the change in energy in the atmosphere due to GHG emissions.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
ramsar convention on wetlands

The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Asia-Pacific assessment
ramsar convention on wetlands

The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Sustainable use assessment
ramsar site

A wetland site designated of international importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental environment treaty established in 1975 by UNESCO, coming into force in 1975. A wetland of international significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology. Such site meets at least one of the criteria of Identifying Wetlands of International Importance set by Ramsar Convention and is designated by appropriate national authority to be added to Ramsar list.

Asia-Pacific assessment
ramsar site

A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated of international importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental environment treaty established in 1975 by UNESCO, coming into force in 1975. Ramsar site refers to wetland of international significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology. Such a site meets at least one of the criteria of identifying Wetlands of International Importance set by Ramsar Convention and is designated by appropriate national authority to be added to Ramsar list.

Europe and Central Asia assessment, Americas assessment
ramsar site

A wetland site designated of international importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental environment treaty established in 1975 by UNESCO, coming into force in 1975. Ramsar site refers to wetland of international significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology. Such a site meets at least one of the criteria of identifying wetlands of international importance set by Ramsar Convention and is designated by appropriate national authority to be added to Ramsar list.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
ramsar site

A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated of international importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental environment treaty established in 1975 by UNESCO, coming into force in 1975. Ramsar site refers to a wetland of international significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology. Such site meets at least one of the criteria of Identifying Wetlands of International Importance set by Ramsar Convention and is designated by appropriate national authority to be added to Ramsar list.

Africa assessment
range

“the current limits of distribution of a species, accounting for all known, inferred or projected sites of occurrence”

Invasive alien species assessment
range shift

A change in the distributional limits of the native geographical range of a species, most commonly driven human-related factors (e.g. climate change).

Pollination assessment
rangeland

Natural grasslands used for livestock grazing.

Land degradation and restoration assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment, Sustainable use assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme), Americas assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment
re-wilding

The preservation of land with the goal of restoring natural ecosystem processes and reducing human control of landscapes (Gillson et al., 2011) to allow declining populations to rebound.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
reactive nitrogen

All biologically, photochemically, and/or radiatively active forms of nitrogen; a diverse pool of nitrogenous compounds that includes organic compounds (e.g. urea, amines, proteins, amides), mineral nitrogen forms, such as nitrates and ammonium, as well as gases that are chemically active in the troposphere (NOx, ammonia, nitrous oxide) and contribute to air pollution and the greenhouse effect.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
reality

Current state of biodiversity and ecosystem functions independent of human knowledge and perceptions and ecosystem services (Nature in IPBES conceptual framework). See also Perceptions; Concepts”; Worldviews”.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
rebound effect

The pattern by which resource users tend to compensate for improved efficiency by shifting behaviour towards greater consumption, which undermines apparent gains. For example, an increased fuel saving of motor vehicle tends to be compensated by spending more money on other resources or by driving more.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
rebound effect

The pattern by which resource users tend to compensate for improved efficiency by shifting behavior towards greater consumption, which undermines apparent gains. For example, an increased fuel saving of motor vehicle tends to be compensated by spending more money on other resources or by driving more.

Sustainable use assessment
reclamation

The stabilization of the terrain, assurance of public safety, aesthetic improvement, and usually a return of the land to what, within the regional context, is considered to be a useful purpose.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
recognition

In social-environmental justice, recognition is about the respect for (community) ways of life, local knowledge, and cultural difference.

Values assessment
recreational uses (of wild species)

Recreational uses are defined as uses of wild species in which enjoyment is considered a primary value.

Sustainable use assessment
recreational values

Monetary or non-monetary worth given to the human recreational use of ecosystems, areas or other natural phenomena.

Asia-Pacific assessment
recruitment

The influx of new members into a population by reproduction or immigration (IUCN, 2012a).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
recruitment

The influx of new members into a population by reproduction or immigration.

Sustainable use assessment
reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

A global mechanism designed to offer positive incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and to promote the conservation, management and enhancement of forest stocks in developing countries (http://theredddesk. org/encyclopaedia/reducing-emissions- deforestation-and-forest-degradation-redd- and-role-conservation). REDD-plus stands for countries’ efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

Asia-Pacific assessment
reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

Mechanism developed by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which creates a financial value for the carbon stored in forests by offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands.

reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is a mechanism developed by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It creates a financial value for the carbon stored in forests by offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. Developing countries would receive results-based payments for results- based actions. REDD+ goes beyond simply deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

Europe and Central Asia assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment
reduced impact logging

The intensively planned and carefully controlled implementation of timber harvesting operations to minimize the environmental impact on forest stands and soils (FAO, 2018a).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
reduced impact logging

The intensively planned and carefully controlled implementation of timber harvesting operations to minimize the environmental impact on forest stands and soils.

Sustainable use assessment
reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

Mechanism developed by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It creates a financial value for the carbon stored in forests by offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. Developing countries would receive results-based payments for results-based actions. REDD+ goes beyond simply deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

Americas assessment, Sustainable use assessment
reforestation

Planting of forests on lands that have previously contained forests but that have been converted to some other use.

Sustainable use assessment
reforestation

Intentional replanting of trees and re- establishing a forest in areas that have been deforested.

Global assessment (1st work programme), Land degradation and restoration assessment
regime

A long-term qualitative behavior where the system’s dynamics tend to stabilize, at different spatial and temporal scales in marine, terrestrial and polar systems (Rocha et al., 2015).

Global assessment (1st work programme), Sustainable use assessment
regime shift

Substantial reorganization in system structure, functions and feedbacks that often occurs abruptly and persists over time.

Americas assessment, Sustainable use assessment, Land degradation and restoration assessment, Europe and Central Asia assessment
regime shift

Persistent change in systems structure and function, which can be abrupt and difficult to reverse. Regime shifts in socio-ecological systems can have substantial impacts on ecosystem services.

Global assessment (1st work programme), Scenarios and models assessment
regional

adj. Pertaining to an area, especially part of a country or the world having definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries.

Pollination assessment
regional cooperation platform

Initiatives or other efforts to provide means by which organizations or individuals with a global region (such as the Asia-Pacific) can work together towards a common or mutual aim, or for common or mutual benefit. Examples include the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Asia-Pacific assessment
rehabilitation

Rehabilitation refers to restoration activities that move a site towards a natural state baseline in a limited number of components (i.e. soil, water, and/or biodiversity), including natural regeneration, conservation agriculture, and emergent ecosystems.

Sustainable use assessment, Americas assessment, Asia-Pacific assessment