Glossary definitions

Any species that has popular appeal and is used to focus attention on conservation campaigns.

Species that has a privileged value for a group (academic or not academic) and is used to focus attention on conservation campaigns (in the case of NGOs and environmentalists) or considered as a heritage (3 characters: inherited from ancestor, supposed to be transmitted to the next generation, sustainably managed) and in which the group identifies him-self.

Synthesis of organic compounds (as in living cells) by energy derived from inorganic chemical reactions.

Ecosystems including hot vents, cold seeps, mud volcanoes and sulphidic brine pools are highly fractured and diverse deep-water habitats shaped by dynamic, small- and large-scale geological processes, which vary substantially in time and space.

A regenerative system in which resource input and waste, emission, and energy leakage are minimized by slowing, closing, and narrowing material and energy loops. This can be achieved through long-lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling.

Citizen science refers to research collaborations in which volunteers and scientists partner to answer real-world questions, typically through a connected interface. A major setback of citizen science projects is that they require some level of computer l.

Actors living in the area / context of interest that are directly or indirectly impacted by decisions / recommendations and hold their own (subjective) interest.

Civil society, according to Gramsci, is broader than the institutionally recognized organizations, unions, associations and other pressure groups. It considers citizens as historical subjects capable of both understanding and changing the world around them, instead of being passive recipients of a readymade ideology. The Internet and other new information and communication technologies facilitate the rise of self-organized, leaderless movements, allowing a rapid and efficient mobilization of citizens.

A group of organisms believed to comprise all the evolutionary descendants of a common ancestor.

Defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, allows a country with an emission-reduction or emission-limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to implement an emission-reduction project in developing countries. Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tone of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets.

Climate is the average weather, or more rigorously, its statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. The classical period for averaging these variables is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization. The relevant quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation and wind. Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system. In the ocean, climate change is manifested as altered hydrologic conditions including temperature, oxygen, sea level, the carbonate system, and related changes in productivity, mixing and circulation.

As defined in Article 1 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.

Adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.

A set of actions to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term climate change. Climate change mitigation generally involves reductions in human (anthropogenic) emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Mitigation may also be achieved by increasing the capacity of carbon sinks, e.g. through reforestation. Mitigation policies can substantially reduce the risks associated with human-induced global warming.

Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time (i.e. decades to millions of years). Climate change may refer to a change in average weather conditions, or in the time variation of weather within the context of longer- term average conditions. Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions. Certain human activities have been identified as primary causes of ongoing climate change, often referred to as global warming.

Refers to a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.

As defined in Article 1 of the UNFCCC, a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.

A change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings such as modulations of the solar cycles, volcanic eruptions and persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. Note that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in its Article 1, defines climate change as: ‘a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods’. The UNFCCC thus makes a distinction between climate change attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric composition and climate variability attributable to natural causes.

A subset of the more general family of species distribution models that correlate species occurrence or abundance with climate variables to make spatially-explicit predictions of potential distribution.

The influence of land cover and biological mediated processes that regulate atmospheric processes and weather patterns which in turn create the microclimate in which different plants and animals (including humans) live and function.

Aims to tackle three main objectives: sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes; adapting and building resilience to climate change; and reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible.

Agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, resilience (adaptation), reduces/ removes GHGs (mitigation), and enhances achievement of national food security and development goals.

Is defined as variations in the mean state and other statistics of the climate on all temporal and spatial scale, beyond individual weather events.

A changing aspect of the climate system that influences a component of a human or natural system.

Practices in response to problems that provide added benefits, above and beyond the direct benefits. They are referred to as multiple benefits or synergies”.

Refers to benefits of development plans or sectoral policies and measures.

Process of management in which government shares power with resource users, with each given specific rights and responsibilities relating to information and decision-making.

In the context of the IPBES conceptual framework, this is the joint contribution by nature and anthropogenic assets in generating nature’s contributions to people.

Essentially a relationship between service provider and service user that draws on the knowledge, ability and resources of both to develop solutions to issues that are claimed to be successful, sustainable and cost-effective, changing the balance of power from the professional towards the service user. The approach is used in work with both individuals and communities.

In the context of the IPBES conceptual framework, this is the joint contribution by nature and anthropogenic assets in generating nature's contributions to people.

It refers to intertidal habitat loss which arises due to the high water mark being fixed by a defense, and the low water mark migrating landwards in response to sea level rise.

Area of the seafloor where gases and fluids are released without incurring a significant temperature rise in the surrounding environment.

Governing arrangement where one or more public agencies directly engage non-state stakeholders in a collective decision-making process that is formal, consensus-oriented, and deliberative and that aims to make or implement public policy or manage public programs or assets.

The rapid and durable loss of a defined socio-ecological system as such, resulting in substantial loss of social-ecological capital (e.g. biomass).

See “Gathering”.

The action of reducing a material, especially a mineral ore, to minute particles or fragments.

Resources for which the exclusion of users is difficult (referred to as excludability), and the use of such a resource by one user decreases resource benefits for other users (referred to as subtractability). Common CPR examples include fisheries, forests, irrigation systems, and pastures. Global CPR examples include the earth’s oceans and atmosphere. Difficulty in excluding users, combined with a CPR’s subtractability, create management vulnerabilities that can result in resource degradation, often referred to as the tragedy of the commons. See also Tragedy of commons” and Commons”.

Common property theory (CPT) refers to a body of cross-disciplinary literature that deals with the historical and contemporary institutional governance and management of valued resources ranging from fisheries and forests to atmospheric sinks, oceans, and genetic materials. CPT was originally developed to understand the problems of managing what are termed common-pool resources.

A concept whereby some forms of wealth belong to all, and that these community resources must be actively protected and managed for the good of all. It consists of land and services of common property (forests, rivers, fields and arable land) used and managed by a given community (mainly traditional, local or indigenous). The commons also consist of gifts of nature such as air, oceans and wildlife (global commons) as well as shared social creations such as libraries, public spaces, scientific research and creative works. See also Common Pool Resources” and Tragedy of the commons”.

“A two-way process aimed at mutual understanding, sharing of values and action”.

An assemblage of populations of at least two different species which coexist, and to various degrees interact directly and indirectly within a defined local geographic area and in a particular time; it is characterized in terms of taxonomic and functional.

A group of people who inhabit or perform ongoing activities in a shared geographic space, who interact with one another, share similar values, identity, and heritage that form a basis for communal rules regulating collective behavior.

Initiatives by indigenous peoples and local community organizations to monitor their community’s well-being and the state of their territories and natural resources, applying a mix of traditional knowledge and innovative tools and approaches. It is a system that promotes evidence-based policymaking while empowering communities to participate in the process.

A broad term used to describe models of forest management that give local people the majority say in making decisions. Similar terms include participatory forest management, collaborative forest management, social forestry, and community-based forest management. With an aim to reduce poverty, community forestry is participatory and should serve all community members equitably.

Decentralized system of forest resource management designed to promote more equitable outcomes for stakeholders’ livelihoods changing relationships between stakeholders and government agencies.

Institutions and/or processes involving Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in the protection of biodiversity aimed at promoting the coexistence of people and nature. This includes -but is not restricted to- Indigenous Peoples’ and community conserved territories and areas (see 'ICCAs').

See Community Based Natural Resource Management.

Processes involving the participation of community members in a range of observation and measurement activities to maintain awareness of ecological and social factors affecting a community .

An approach to natural resource management that involves the full participation of indigenous peoples’ and local communities and resource users in decision-making activities, and the incorporation of local institutions, customary practices, and knowledge systems in management, regulatory, and enforcement processes. Under this approach, community-based monitoring and information systems are initiatives by indigenous peoples and local community organisations to monitor their community’s well-being and the state of their territories and natural resources, applying a mix of traditional knowledge and innovative tools and approaches.

an approach to natural resource management that involves the full participation of indigenous peoples' and local communities and resource users in decision- making activities, and the incorporation of local institutions, customary practices, and knowledge systems in management, regulatory, and enforcement processes. Under this approach, community-based monitoring and information systems are initiatives by indigenous peoples and local community organizations to monitor their community's well-being and the state of their territories and natural resources, applying a mix of traditional knowledge and innovative tools and approaches.