Glossary definitions

Built-up infrastructure, health facilities, knowledge (including indigenous and local knowledge systems and technical or scientific knowledge, as well as formal and non- formal education), technology (both physical objects and procedures), and financial assets among others.

Built-up infrastructure, health facilities, or knowledge - including indigenous and local knowledge systems and technical or scientific knowledge - as well as formal and non-formal education, technology (both physical objects and procedures), and financial assets. Anthropogenic assets have been highlighted to emphasize that a good quality of life is achieved by a co-production of benefits between nature and societies.

Built-up infrastructure, health facilities, or knowledge - including indigenous and local knowledge systems and technical or scientific knowledge - as well as formal and non-formal education, technology (both physical objects and procedures), and financial assets. Anthropogenic assets have been highlighted to emphasize that a good quality of life is achieved by a co-production of benefits between nature and people.

Built-up infrastructure, health facilities, or knowledge - including indigenous and local knowledge systems and technical or scientific knowledge - as well as formal and non-formal education, work, technology (both physical objects and procedures), and financial assets. Anthropogenic assets have been highlighted to emphasize that a good quality of life is achieved by a co-production of benefits between nature and people.

See 'Anthrome'.

Drivers associated with human actions/activities that drive changes in biodiversity and ecosystems.

Impacts resulting from human activities.

Areas of Earth's terrestrial surface where direct human alteration of ecological patterns and processes is significant, ongoing, and directed toward servicing the needs of human populations for food, shelter and other resources and services including recreation and aesthetic needs.

Caused or influenced by humans.

A concept or construct generated by humans. While it can be argued that all principles and preferences are anthropogenic (human-generated), this does not mean they are all anthropocentric (human-centred).

Aphotic zone is the portion of a lake or ocean where there is little or no sunlight. It is formally defined as the depths beyond which less than 1% of sunlight penetrates.

(see Beekeeping).

Approval of the Platform's outputs signifies that the material has been subject to detailed, line-by-line discussion and agreement by consensus at a session of the Plenary.

The farming of aquatic organisms, including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants, involving interventions such as regular stocking, feeding, protection from predators, to enhance production. (In contrast, aquatic organisms which are exploitable by the public as a common property resource, are classed as fisheries, not aquaculture).

The farming of aquatic organisms, including fish, mollusks, crustaceans and aquatic plants, in both inland and coastal areas, and involving some form of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding, protection from predators, etc. Farming also implies individual or corporate ownership of the stock being cultivated.

A semi-liquid mixture, typically of fine particles of manure, cement, or coal suspended in water.

A body of permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater.

adj. Pertaining to land that can be farmed.

In the context of scenarios, an over-arching scenario that embodies common characteristics of a number of more specific scenarios.

Those in which water availability severely constrains ecological activity.

A region is arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Environments subject to arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic.

A chronic reduction in soil moisture caused by an increase of mean annual temperature or a decrease in yearly precipitation.

Article 8(j) states that each contracting Party of the Convention on Biological Diversity shall, as far as possible and as appropriate, subject to national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge innovations and practices.

One of 4 regions defined in the IPBES framework and includes 62 countries or territories from five subregions, namely Oceania (American Samoa*, Australia, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands*, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia*, Guam*, Hawai’i*, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia*, New Zealand, Niue*, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Island*, Samoa, Solomon Islands, *Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and oceanic and sub-Antarctic islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans*), South-East Asia (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam), North-East Asia (China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and Republic of Korea), South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), Western Asia (Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine (State of), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen). *Overseas territory.

Assessment reports are published outputs of scientific, technical and socioeconomic issues that take into account different approaches, visions and knowledge systems, including global assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services with a defined geographical scope, and thematic or methodological assessments based on the standard or the fast-track approach. They are to be composed of two or more sections including a summary for policymakers, an optional technical summary and individual chapters and their executive summaries. Assessments are the major output of IPBES, and they contain syntheses of findings on topics that have been selected by the IPBES Plenary.

Assessment reports are published outputs of scientific, technical and socioeconomic issues that take into account different approaches, visions and knowledge systems, including global assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services with a defined geographical scope, and thematic or methodological assessments based on the standard or the fast-track approach. They are to be composed of two or more sections including a summary for policymakers, an optional technical summary and individual chapters and their executive summaries. Assessments are the major output of IPBES, and they contain syntheses of findings on topics that have been selected by the IPBES.

Assessment reports are published outputs of scientific, technical and socioeconomic issues that take into account different approaches, visions and knowledge systems, including global assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services with a defined geographical scope, and thematic or methodological assessments based on the standard or the fast-track approach. They are composed of two or more sections including a summary for policymakers, an optional technical summary, and individual chapters and their executive summaries. Assessments are the major output of IPBES, and they contain syntheses of findings on topics that have been selected by the IPBES Plenary.

Published outputs of scientific, technical and socioeconomic issues that take into account different approaches, visions and knowledge systems, including global assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services with a defined geographical scope, and thematic or methodological assessments based on the standard or the fast-track approach. They are to be composed of two or more sections including a summary for policymakers, an optional technical summary and individual chapters and their executive summaries. Assessments are the major output of IPBES, and they contain syntheses of findings on topics that have been selected by the IPBES Plenary.

Published outputs of scientific, technical and socioeconomic issues that take into account different approaches, visions and knowledge systems, including global assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services with a defined geographical scope, and thematic or methodological assessments based on the standard or the fast-track approach. They are composed of two or more sections including a summary for policymakers, an optional technical summary and individual chapters and their executive summaries. Assessments are the major output of IPBES, and they contain syntheses of findings on topics that have been selected by the IPBES Plenary.

Within the context of IPBES - published assessments of scientific, technical and socio-economic issues that take into account different approaches, visions and knowledge systems, including global and regional assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and thematic or methodological assessments.

Also known as assisted migration or managed relocation, is the act of deliberately moving plants or animals to a different habitat. The destination habitat may have either historically held the species or it may not have hosted the species, but the habitat provides the bioclimatic requirements to support it. Assisted colonization may also supplement an existing population in a site where their numbers are dwindling. This is especially the case where the assisted species are unable to disperse at a rate which keeps pace with the shifting bio-climatic, bio-physical envelope.

The tendency for plant (or pollinator) species with few links to interact with pollinator (or plant) species with many links. In mutualistic networks, such as pollination, nestedness (q.v.) is often asymmetrical with specialists of one group (plants or pollinators) linked to the generalists of the partner group (pollinators or plants).

Soil water content useable by plants, based on the effective root penetration depth.

The condition of having two different alleles at a gene locus.

Land-based climate change mitigation strategy based on maintaining and expanding global forest area, and thus the carbon uptake of forest ecosystems in biomass and soil.

The ways in which people understand who they are, their belonging and role in society, and their relation to their broader environment.

The harvesting, processing, transporting, buying or selling of timber in contravention of national and international laws.

Illegal is defined in the context of this assessment when it violates laws and regulations.

A broad term which includes: fishing and fishing-related activities conducted in contravention of national, regional and international laws; non-reporting, misreporting or under- reporting of information on fishing operations and their catches; fishing by “Stateless” vessels; fishing in convention areas of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) by non-party vessels; fishing activities which are not regulated by States and cannot be easily monitored and accounted for.

Non-tangible aspects of cultural value that are passed from one human generation to the next.

A formal, evidence-based procedure that assesses the economic, social and environmental effects of public policy or of any human activity.

changes to nature, nature’s contributions to people, and/or the good quality of life (Ricciardi et al., 2013). Impacts can be observed or unobserved. More specifically, impacts to nature (formerly ‘ecological impact’), is defined as a measurable change to the properties of an ecosystem (Ricciardi et al., 2013), and implies that all introduced species can have an impact, even when not yet established or widespread, which may vary in magnitude, simply by integration into the ecosystem.

A Key Biodiversity Area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for bird populations.

The conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties.

An economic concept that seeks to incorporate natural capital into national wealth estimates, beyong GDP.

Absence of a common unit along which values can be measured and compared.

Limited evidence, recognising major knowledge gaps.

A quantitative or qualitative factor or variable that provides a simple, measurable and quantifiable characteristic or attribute responding in a known and communicable way to a changing environmental condition, to a changing ecological process or function, or to a changing element of biodiversity.

Natural and modified ecosystems including significant biodiversity, ecological services and cultural values voluntarily conserved by indigenous and local communities through customary laws or other effective means.

Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) refers to dynamic bodies of integrated, holistic, social and ecological knowledge, practices and beliefs pertaining to the relationship of living beings, including people, with one another and with their environments.