Skip to main content

values of nature3

Glossary

When referring to values of ‘nature’, we expand on the concept proposed by Díaz et al. (2015) by recognizing that individual and group understandings of nature are socially constructed, and that different social groups have different conceptualizations of the relationship between the human and non-human world. For IPBES, nature refers loosely to the non-human living world including the scientific categories of biodiversity, ecosystem structure and functioning, evolution, the biosphere, humankind’s shared evolutionary heritage and biocultural diversity. In addition, IPBES recognises other worldviews, including those from IPLCs, in which people recognize the diverse entities and elements of nature such as rivers, mountains, plants, animal species, existing within the planet denoted by categories like Mother Earth and systems of life . Among many IPLCs, nature is often viewed as inextricably linked to humans, not as a separate entity. By recognizing this wide understanding of the concept ‘nature’, we are then able to recognize the diversity of values that emerges within these different ways of seeing the world.

Glossary term
Deliverable(s)