Glossary definitions

a species, which cannot be reliably demonstrated as being either alien or native

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Sarukhán & Whyte, 2005) defined cultural ecosystem services as the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences. Cultural ecosystem services have been included in many other typologies of ecosystem services and referred to variously as cultural services (Constanza, 1997), life-fulfilling functions (Daily, 1999), information functions (de Groot et al., 2002), amenities and fulfilment (Boyd & Banzhaf, 2007), cultural and amenity services (de Groot et al., 2010, Kumar 2010), or socio-cultural fulfilment (Wallace, 2007).

Cultural change is a continuous process in any society, which can vary from gradual to stochastic, resulting from interactions between processes that are internal (ex. needs, local changes, crisis, mobility, ideas, invention and innovation, conflicts, etc.) and external (ex. diffusion, external agents, political and economic forces, conflicts, etc.) (Berry, 2008; Redfield et al., 1936). Cultural change is interpreted differently depending on theoretical orientation, such as diffusionism, modernization theory, world system theory, neocolonialism, globalization, among others (see Peña, 2005; Rudmin, 2009; Santos-Granero, 2009). Culture change can be selective or systemic and most often involves resistance and conflicts but can also lead to adaptation and resilience in changing contexts and environments.

Cultural continuity has been conceptualized within Indigenous health research that builds on cultural connectedness to emphasize the importance of intergenerational cultural connectedness, which is maintained through intact families and the engagement of elders, who pass traditions to subsequent generations. Cultural continuity also situates culture as being dynamic through the maintenance of collective memory, which may change over time.

As stated in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, Culture takes diverse forms across time and space. This diversity is embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities of the groups and societies making up humankind. As a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. In this sense, it is the common heritage of humanity and should be recognized and affirmed for the benefit of present and future generations..Cultural diversity widens the range of options open to everyone; it is one of the roots of development, understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence.

A category of ecosystem services first developed in the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) to refer to the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experience, including, knowledge systems, social relations, and aesthetic values. In this assessment, cultural ecosystem services are included as part of both material and non-material Nature’s contributions to people.

A category of ecosystem services first developed in the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) to refer to the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experience, including, e.g. knowledge systems, social relations, and aesthetic values (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). In the Global Assessment, cultural ecosystem services are included as part of both material and non-material nature’s contributions to people.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment defined cultural ecosystem services as the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences. Cultural ecosystem services have been included in many other typologies of ecosystem services and referred to variously as cultural services, life-fulfilling functions, information functions, amenities and fulfillment, cultural and amenity services, or socio-cultural fulfillment.

Cultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to, as part of the self-conception and self-perception to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality and any kind of social group that have its own distinct culture. In this way that cultural identity is both characteristic of the individual but also to the culturally identical group that has its members sharing the same cultural identity.

The culturally salient species that shape in a major way the cultural identity of a people, as reflected in the fundamental roles these species have in diet, materials, medicine, and/or spiritual practices.

Culturally keystone species designate species whose existence and symbolic value shape in a major way and over time, the cultural identity of a people, as reflected in the fundamental roles these species have in diet, materials, medicine, and/or spiritual practices.

Cultural landscapes express the long-term co-evolution and relationships between people and nature, influenced by internal and external forces affecting the aesthetic and productive configuration of land management, water bodies, wildlife, property systems, infrastructure and human settlements, and which are both a source and a product of changing social, institutional, economic, and cultural systems.

Cultural values are shared social values and norms, which are learned and dynamic, and which underpin attitudes and behavior and how people respond to events and opportunities, and affects the hierarchy of values people assign to objects, knowledge, stories, feelings, other beings, forms of social expressions, and behaviors.

A commonly accepted definition of culture refers to the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.

Culture is defined as a key determinant of, for example, what is defined as suitable food and preferred approaches to supporting human health.

An impact produced over a period of time.

The socially-embedded systems and institutions used within communities to regulate and manage land use and access, and which derive from the community itself rather than from the state.

Law consisting of customs that are accepted as legal requirements or obligatory rules of conduct; practices and beliefs that are so vital and intrinsic a part of a social and economic system that they are treated as if they were laws.

Customary law forms part of forms part of international and domestic law and stems from the customary norms of a particular group of peoples.

Law based on tradition in communities where the authority of traditional leadership is recognised. It exists where there is a commonly repeated practice which is accepted as law by the members of a community.

Law consisting of commonly repeated customs, practices and beliefs that are accepted as legal requirements or obligatory rules of conduct.

See Customary law.

Rights, such as land rights or political rights, that are granted by either customary or statutory law. Customary rights exist where there is a consensus of relevant actors considering them to be ‘law’.

Uses of biological resources in accordance with traditional cultural practices that are compatible with conservation or sustainable use requirements.

Gathering is defined as the removal of terrestrial and aquatic algae, fungi, and plants (other than trees) or parts thereof from their habitats. Gathering may, but often does not, result in the death of the organism. Gathering includes whole plant harvest and removal of above and/or below ground plant parts, as well as the fruiting bodies of macrofungi. It also includes removal of non-woody portions of trees (leaves, propagules, and bark). Where removal of propagules or death of an individual plant occurs (e.g. whole plant and root removal) effects on population sustainability are contingent upon factors including timing, frequency, and intensity of harvest. The harvest of wood and woody parts of trees is encompassed by the definition of logging.

The term gender refers to the socially-constructed expectations about the characteristics, aptitudes and behaviors associated with being a woman or a man. Gender defines what is feminine and masculine. Gender shapes the social roles that mean and women play and the power relations between them, which can have a profound effect on the use and management of natural resources. Gender is not based on sex or the biological differences between women and men; rather, gender is shaped by culture and social norms. Thus, depending on values, norms, customs and laws, women and men in different parts of the world have adopted different gender roles and relations. Within the same society, gender roles also differ by race/ethnicity, class/caste, religion, ethnicity, age and economic circumstances. Gender and gender roles then affect the economic, political, social, and ecological opportunities and constraints faced by both women and men (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2017). The framing of sex and gender as binaries is in fact a cultural ideology. The empirical reality is that sex is a spectrum, manifesting in a wide array of sex variance. Some people don't neatly fit into the categories of man or woman, or “male” or “female.” For example, some people have a gender that blends elements of being a man or a woman, or a gender that is different than either male or female. Some people don't identify with any gender, or their gender changes over time.

The basic physical and functional unit of heredity. Genes are made up of DNA, and occupy a fixed position (locus) on a chromosome. Genes achieve their effects by directing the synthesis of proteins.

The movement of individuals, and/or the genetic material they carry, from one population to another. Gene flow includes lots of different kinds of events, such as pollen being blown to a new destination or people moving to new cities or countries.

A numerical representation of the physical processes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and land surface based on the physical, chemical and biological properties of their components, their interactions and feedback processes, and accounting for all or some of its known properties.

A species able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and that can make use of a variety of different resources (for example, a flower-visiting insect that lives on the floral resources provided by several to many different plants).

The composition in alleles of a population.

The variation at the level of individual genes, which provides a mechanism for populations to adapt to their ever-changing environment. The more variation, the better the chance that at least some of the individuals will have an allelic variant that is suited for the new environment, and will produce offspring with the variant that will in turn reproduce and continue the population into subsequent generations.

The artificial manipulation, modification, and recombination of DNA or other nucleic acid molecules in order to modify an organism or population of organisms.

The loss of genetic diversity, including the loss of individual genes or particular combinations of genes, and loss of varieties and crops.

Genetic material of actual or potential value.

Organism in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination (WHO, 2014). The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety defines 'living modified organism' as any living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety defines 'living modified organism' as any living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.

The genetic constitution of an individual or group.

A computer-based tool that analyses, stores, manipulates and visualizes geographic information on a map.

The geographic range of a species is the geographic boundary within which it occurs.

Living tissue from which new plants can be grown. It can be a seed or another plant part - a leaf, a piece of stem, pollen or even just a few cells that can be turned into a whole plant.

In economics, the Gini coefficient (sometimes expressed as a Gini ratio or a normalized Gini index) is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income or wealth distribution of a nation's residents and is the most commonly used measure of inequality.

The Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure or other variables) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.

adj. Pertaining to the whole world.

Common pool resources (CPR) that have a global nature, such as the atmosphere, the oceans, global species diversity, migratory species, global biogeochemical processes, among others. It does not refer to property rights, such as a common property system. In general, CPR include natural and human‐ constructed resources in which (i) exploitation by one user reduces resource availability for others, and (ii) exclusion of beneficiaries through physical and institutional means is especially costly. These two characteristics ‐ difficulty of exclusion and subtractability ‐ create potential CPR dilemmas in which people following their own short‐term interests produce outcomes that are not in anyone’s long‐term interest.

Global commons are resources at a planetary scale that are outside national jurisdictions. International law identifies four global commons: the high seas; the atmosphere; Antarctica; and outer space, which are recognized as the common heritage of humankind (UNEP Division of Environmental Law and Conventions).

The Global South and the Global North is a terminology that distinguishes not only between political systems or degrees of poverty, but between the victims and the benefactors of global capitalism.

The observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate system and its related effects.

The process by which life forms, process, products or ideas become distributed worldwide.

see target- seeking scenarios.