Glossary definitions

Indigenous and local knowledge systems are social and ecological knowledge practices and beliefs pertaining to the relationship of living beings, including people, with one another and with their environments. Such knowledge can provide information, methods, theory and practice for sustainable ecosystem management.

Social and ecological knowledge practices and beliefs pertaining to the relationship of living beings, including people, with one another and with their environments. Such knowledge can provide information, methods, theory and practice for sustainable ecosystem management.

A cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment. It is also referred to by other terms such as: indigenous, local or traditional knowledge; traditional ecological/environmental knowledge (TEK); farmers' or fishers' knowledge; ethnoscience; indigenous science; folk science.

The knowledge, practices and innovations embedded in the relationships of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to nature. ILK is situated in a place and social context, but at the same time open and hybrid, continuously evolving through the combination of written, oral, tacit, practical, and scientific knowledge attained from various sources, and validated by experimentation and in practice of direct interaction with nature. See chapter 1 (section 1.3.2.1) and chapter 2.2 (section 2.2.2) for a discussion on the differences between ‘indigenous knowledge’ and ‘local knowledge’.

Indigenous and local knowledge holders are understood to be persons situated in the collective knowledge systems of indigenous peoples and local communities with knowledge from their own indigenous peoples and local communities; indigenous and local knowledge experts are understood to be persons from indigenous peoples and local communities who have knowledge about indigenous and local knowledge and associated issues (they may also be indigenous and local knowledge holders); and experts on indigenous and local knowledge are understood to be persons who have knowledge about indigenous and local knowledge and associated issues, not necessarily from indigenous peoples and local communities.

A cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment. It is also referred to by other terms such as: Indigenous, local or traditional knowledge, traditional ecological/environmental knowledge, farmers’ or fishers’ knowledge, ethnoscience, indigenous science, folk science.

Social and ecological knowledge practices and beliefs pertaining to the relationship of living beings, including people, with one another and with their environments. Such knowledge can provide information, methods, theory and practice for sustainable ecosystem management.

Human communities that are self- identified as indigenous; descent from the occupants of a territory prior to an act of conquest; possession of a common history, language, and culture regulated by customary laws that are distinct from national cultures; possession of a common land; exclusion or marginalization from political decision-making; and claims for collective and sovereign rights that are unrecognized by the dominating and governing group(s) of the state. Indigenous Peoples are often thought of as the primary stewards of the planet's biological resources. Their ways of life and cosmovisions (value systems that interpret and relate the world, life, things and time) have contributed to the protection of the natural environment on which they depend.

Social groups of indigenous peoples.

Are the holders of unique languages, knowledge systems and beliefs and possess invaluable knowledge of practices for the sustainable management of natural resources based on their traditional values, visions, needs and priorities. Are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environments. Indigenous people have retained social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live.

Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are, typically, ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently.

Typically, ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. IPBES does not intend to create or develop new definitions of what constitutes indigenous peoples and local communities.

The term “Indigenous Peoples and local communities” and its acronym “IPLC” are widely used by international organizations and conventions to refer to individuals and groups who self-identify as indigenous or as members of distinct local communities. We adopt this terminology in this assessment, with particular emphasis on those who “maintain an inter-generational historical connection to place and nature through livelihoods, cultural identity, languages, worldviews, institutions, and ecological knowledge”.

Ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. IPBES does not intend to create or develop new definitions of what constitutes indigenous peoples and local communities.

Indigenous people are also known as first peoples, aboriginal peoples, native peoples, or autochthonous peoples, are ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. The distinctive groups, usually maintaining traditions or other aspects of an early culture that is associated with a given region, are protected in international or national legislation as having a set of specific rights based on their linguistic and historical ties to a particular territory, prior to later settlement, development, and or occupation of a region. Local community is a self-identified human group that relates to a life environment in collective ways that participate to define a shared territory and culture. The members of a local community have frequent chances of direct (possibly face-to-face) encounters and possess some common history, traditions, institutions, language, values and life plans. A local community can be long-standing (‘traditional') or relatively new, include a single or multiple ethnic identities and be permanently settled or mobile. A local community should have a form of political identity that enables it to exercise its rights and responsibilities with respect to its territory and neighbors.

The Convention on Biological Diversity does not define the terms indigenous and local communities or Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples does not adopt or recommend a universal definition for Indigenous Peoples (Decision CBD/COP/DEC/14/13). As used in the global assessment, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) is a term used internationally by representatives, organizations, and conventions to refer to individuals and communities who are, on the one hand, self-identified as indigenous and, on the other hand, are members of local communities that maintain inter-generational connection to place and nature through livelihood, cultural identity and worldviews, institutions and ecological knowledge. The term is not intended to ignore differences and diversity within and among Indigenous Peoples and between them and local communities; Indigenous Peoples have recognized and distinct rights, which are not extendable to the broader and encompassing concept of local communities. See chapter 1 (Section 1.3.2.1).

Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are, typically, ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. IPBES does not intend to create or develop new definitions of what constitutes indigenous peoples and local communities.

Indigenous Peoples' and Local Community Conserved Areas and Territories, referred to as ICCAs, are natural and/or modified ecosystems containing significant biodiversity values, ecological services and cultural values, voluntarily conserved by Indigenous peoples and local communities, both sedentary and mobile, through customary laws or other effective means. ICCAs can include ecosystems with minimum to substantial human influence as well as cases of continuation, revival or modification of traditional practices or new initiatives taken up by communities in the face of new threats or opportunities. Several of them are inviolate zones ranging from very small to large stretches of land and waterscapes.

Natural and/or modified ecosystems containing significant biodiversity values, ecological services and cultural values, voluntarily conserved by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, both sedentary and mobile, through customary laws or other effective means.

See driver.

See “Drivers”.

Drivers that operate by altering the level or rate of change of one or more direct drivers.

Indirect drivers are the forces that underlie and shape the extent, severity and combination of anthropogenic direct drivers that operate in a given place. They include key institutional and governance structures in addition to social, economic and cultural contexts. They are the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and can be external to the system in question. Indirect drivers operate almost always in concert and across multiple scales and varying levels of proximity from the location in question, from the global (markets, commodity prices, consumption patterns), to the national and regional (demographic change, migration, domestic markets, national policies, governance, cultural and technological change) to the local (poverty, economic opportunities).

See values.

Individual behaviour is usually understood as anything an animal or a person does in response to a particular situation or stimulus. Actions may be overt (motor or verbal) and directly measurable, or covert (activities not viewable but involving voluntary muscles) and indirectly measurable.

An allocation to an individual (a person or a legal entity (e.g. a company)) of a right

A type of quota (a part of a Total Allowable Catch) allocated to individual fishermen or vessel owners and which can be sold to others.

Industrial effluent is in general considered to be industrial wastewater - treated or untreated - that flows out of a sewage treatment facility or the wastewater discharge from industrial facilities. Generally refers to wastes discharged into surface waters.

Industrial fisheries are defined as a category of capture fishery that generally present (some of) the following characteristics: (i) high capital equipment and expenditure, (ii) highly level of mechanization, motorization and onboard processing, (iii) large vessel size (> 24 m and > 50 GT), (iv) based on a business more vertically integrated, with generally global market access, (v) operating offshore on a multi-days basis.

Industrialisation or industrialization is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society, involving the extensive re-organization of an economy for the purpose of manufacturing.

Animals that live within the sediment.

People and organizations who influence decision-making processes related to biodiversity and therefore have an impact on those who implement the decisions.

a broader term for Information Technology (IT), which refers to all communication technologies, including the internet, wireless networks, cell phones, computers, software, middleware, video-conferencing, social networking, and other media applications and services enabling users to access, retrieve, store, transmit, and manipulate information in a digital form

infrastructures for organising data and information. As examples, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) are international on-line infrastructures for organizing data of species presences in space and time. For examples of invasive alien species information systems see Katsanevakis & Roy (2015) and Latombe et al.

A substance that kills insects. Insecticides may be synthetic chemicals, natural chemicals, or biological agents.

Linear areas of land within or at the edges of fields, farms, or other areas (rights of way, riparian areas, etc.) where plants are encouraged to grow, often for the benefit of various beneficial animals (e.g. predators of pests, biological control agents, pollinators and other wildlife).

Institutional arrangements can be seem as different (in)formal regimes and coalitions for collective action and inter-agent coordination, ranging from public-private cooperation and contracting schemes to organizational networking and policy arrangements.

The set of abilities which a given institution can use to achieve policy goals. Examples include the ability to collaborate with local communities, design scientifically sound restoration interventions, or foresee secondary effects of policies.

These are often catalogued as (i) law and policy failures (e.g. perverse subsidies), (ii) market failures (externalities in the use of public goods and services), (iii) organizational failure (e.g. lack of transparency and political legitimacy in decision-making) and (iv) informal institutional failures (e.g. break of collective action norms due to erosion of trust.

see Drivers, institutions and governance systems and other indirect drivers.

Encompass all formal and informal interactions among stakeholders and social structures that determine how decisions are taken and implemented, how power is exercised, and how responsibilities are distributed.

Encompasses all formal and informal interactions among stakeholders and social structures that determine how decisions are taken and implemented, how power is exercised, and how responsibilities are distributed.

Institutions are the (informal) conventions and norms, and (formal) legal rules which influence choices at all levels of society. The concept also encompasses the notions of habits and practices, referencing to the habituation of conventions and norms. Institutions structure both formal and informal interactions among people and organizations and influence human-nature relationships. As social structures, they shape how decisions are made and implemented and how responsibilities are distributed. Institutions are power-carriers as they shape people's identities and behaviour regarding particular values and interests. See Value-articulating institution.

Also known as extrinsic value or contributory value, it is the value of objects, both physical objects and abstract objects, not as ends-in- themselves, but as means of achieving something else. It is often contrasted with items of intrinsic value. It is studied in the field of value theory.

The direct and indirect contribution of nature's benefits to the achievement of a good quality of life.

The direct and indirect contribution of nature's benefits to the achievement of a good quality of life. Within the specific framework of the total economic value, instrumental values can be classified into use (direct and indirect use values) on the one hand, and non-use values (option, bequest and existence values) on the other. Sometimes option values are considered as use values as well.

The value attributed to something as a means to achieving a particular end.

See values.

Any area of habitat suitable for a specific ecosystem, surrounded by an expanse of unfavorable habitat that limits the dispersal of individuals. Insular systems can be either physical islands or isolated habitats (e.g. resulting of fragmentation).

The importance attributed to ecosystem resilience, including the role of biodiversity in maintaining the integrity of ecosystems as functioning systems, and their capacity to deliver ecosystem services and associated values.