The comprehensive glossary of nature terms is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of the natural world.
5 Rs: a system for waste management that suggests a hierarchical order of actions that include: Refuse (refuse to buy or use wasteful products), reduce (reduce the amount of wasteful products), reuse (reuse products where possible rather than single-use products), repurpose (upcycle or use products for another purpose), and then recycle (if the product needs to be disposed of recycle it).
Action plans (or implementation plans): are road maps for action created by industry, government, businesses, organizations, community groups, municipalities, educational institutions and others. These plans adopt the vision and goals outlined in Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy, 2023 and identify specific actions to help achieve them.
Adaptive management: an ongoing systematic process for improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of operational programs and incorporating new information.
Biocapacity: the capacity of ecosystems to produce useful biological materials and to absorb waste materials generated by humans, using current management regimes and extraction technologies. Biocapacity is usually measured in global hectares (gha).
Biodiversity (or biological diversity): the variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
Climate change: any change in climate over time due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.
Climate change adaptation: the ability to respond and adjust to actual or potential impacts of changing climate conditions to moderate harm or take advantage of any positive opportunities such changes may afford.
Climate change mitigation: an intervention intended to reduce adverse human influence on the climate system; it includes strategies to lower greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance greenhouse gas sinks.
Conservation: the maintenance of the Earth’s resources in a manner that sustains ecosystem, species and genetic diversity and the evolutionary and other processes that shaped them. Conservation may or may not involve the use of resources; that is, certain areas, species or populations may be excluded from human use as part of an overall landscape/waterscape conservation approach, while in other areas, the sustainable use of biological resources may be permitted.
Ecological footprint: a metric that assesses the human demand for certain natural resources and identifies whether our collective consumption levels and waste generation are approaching or exceeding the Earth’s ecological limits. The Ecological Footprint provides an indicator of the pressure on biodiversity by measuring the competing level of ecological demand that humans place on the biosphere.
Ecological integrity: the quality of a natural unmanaged or managed ecosystem in which the ecological processes are sustained, ensuring genetic, species and ecosystem diversity for the future.
Ecological processes: the interactions and connections between living and non-living systems, including the movement of energy, nutrients and species.
Ecosystem: a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their physical environment functioning as an ecological unit.
Ecosystem based approaches: resource planning and management activities that take into account the relationships among and between all organisms, including humans, and their environment.
Ecosystem diversity: the variety of habitats, plant and animal communities and associated ecological processes.
Ecosystem health: the ability of an ecosystem, through its structure and functions, to sustain biological diversity, biotic integrity and biological processes over time.
Ecosystem resilience: the capacity of an eco- system to adapt to changes and disturbances and still retain its basic functions and structures.
Ecosystem services: the services that humans derive from ecological functions such as photo- synthesis, oxygen production, water purification and so on.
Ecozone: an area of the Earth’s surface that represents a large ecological zone with characteristic natural features and climate. Ecozones are distinguished from one another by their unique mosaics of plants, wildlife, climate, landforms and human activities.
Education: the guiding of learning processes in the form of instruction, experience or example. This includes formal, non-formal and informal education.
Environmentally harmful subsidies: subsidies that increase production or use of a product or substance with harmful environmental effects (CBD).
Environmental management system: a systematic approach to dealing with the environmental aspects of an organization. It is a tool that enables an organization of any size or type to control the impact of its activities, products or services on the natural environment. It is a process of plan, do, check, review and where necessary revise in the spirit of continual improvement. For the purposes of this document, we are referring to ISO 14001, environmental certification systems (e.g., Forest Stewardship Council, EcoLogo) and corporate social responsibility practices.
Ethical space: Indigenous knowledge keeper Willie Ermine defines the ethical space of engagement as “dialogue between human communities” and that “ethical space is formed when two societies, with disparate worldviews, are poised to engage each other.” Ethical space is collaboration between Indigenous and non-indigenous partners to create the opportunity for knowledge systems to interact with mutual respect, kindness, generosity and other basic values and principles. It is founded on the belief that all knowledge systems are equal; no single system has more weight or legitimacy than another (adapted from the We Rise Together report).
Food security: when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
Genetic diversity: the variety of genetic information contained within individuals of a particular species. It improves a species’ ability to cope with environmental stresses such as climate change.
Genetic resources: genetic material of actual or potential value.
Green/natural infrastructure: strategically planned and managed networks of natural lands, working landscapes and other open spaces that conserve ecosystem values and function, and provide associated benefits to humans.
Guardianship: an approach to biodiversity protection and conservation based on the concept that people should speak and act on behalf of species and ecosystems that can’t speak for themselves. Guardianship is built on the concepts of the interconnectedness of nature, sustainability, and reciprocity.
Integrated land use planning: a strategic way to allocate land for different uses to balance environmental, social, and economic values.
Integrated pest management (IPM): is a process to solve pest problems (such as infestations of harmful insects that damage agricultural crops, native species, or our homes) while minimizing risks to people and the environment. IPM can be used to manage pests in urban, agricultural, wildland or natural areas.
Intrinsic value: something valued for its own sake, not for what it can be fashioned into or produce.
Invasive species: an alien species whose introduction or spread threatens the environment, the economy and/or society, including human health.
Key biodiversity area: are terrestrial and aquatic sites that are “contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity” (IUCN). They must meet a globally agreed upon criteria which is outlined in the Global Standard for the Identification of Key Biodiversity Areas (IUCN 2016).
Landscapes: complexes of ecosystems in geographically defined areas.
Living in Harmony within Nature: is the concept that all living things including humans are interconnected and that we should live peacefully alongside all elements of nature even though we may need to exploit or use other organisms to some degree. (IPBES)
Living Planet Index: a measure of the state of the world’s biological diversity based on population trends of vertebrate species from terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats (Living Planet Index).
Mainstreaming: the informed inclusion of relevant environmental concerns in the decision making for all activities of individuals and institutions.
Mental health: a state of wellbeing in which an individual realizes their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to their community (World Health Organisation, 2018).
Natural capital: indispensable resources and benefits, essential for human survival and economic activity, provided by the ecosystem.
Natural heritage: natural features consisting of physical and biological formations or groups of such formations, which are of outstanding value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view.
Nature positive: a term used to describe reversing the declines in biodiversity so that the species and ecosystems are regenerating rather than declining.
Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs): Other effective area-based conservation measures are geographically defined areas that are governed and managed over the long-term in ways that achieve the in-situ conservation of biodiversity even when conservation is not the primary goal. They can consider local cultural, spiritual, and socio-economic values.
Pollution: generally refers to contaminants from a source created by human activities. Major forms of pollution include air, light, water, noise and plastic pollution, soil contamination, radioactive contamination, as well as fugitive pesticides.
Protected area: a clearly defined geographic space, recognized, dedicated and managed through legal or effective means to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.
Protection: a commitment to protect individuals, a population or subpopulation or an ecosystem (or portions of one) from adverse impacts that may result in their loss.
Rare species: small populations that are not currently endangered, threatened or of special concern but may be at risk. These species are usually localized within restricted geographical areas or habitats or are thinly scattered over a more extensive range. Rarity can be defined locally, regionally, provincially or territorially, nationally or globally.
Recovery: an action that is taken to reduce or eliminate a condition or circumstance that causes a species to be listed as threatened, endangered or extirpated.
Rehabilitation: the return of a species, a population or an ecosystem to a healthy, functioning state.
Restoration: the return of a species, a population or an ecosystem to its state prior to a disturbance.
Species diversity: the variety of species found in a given region or habitat.
Species or ecosystems of conservation concern: a species or an ecosystem that is in decline, rare or scarce in the wild.
Species at risk: any wild plant or animal threatened by or vulnerable to extirpation or extinction in Ontario. Species at Risk are assigned a designation to represent the degree of imperilment (Special Concern, Threatened, Endangered or Extirpated).
Stewardship: an ethic that embodies cooperative planning and management of environmental resources in which individuals, organizations, communities and other groups actively engage in the prevention of habitat loss, as well as the facilitation of resource recovery and/or replenishment, usually with a focus on long-term sustainability.
Sustainable: the potential for long-term maintenance of well-being, which has environmental, economic and social dimensions.
Sustainable use: the use of natural resources in a way and at a rate that conserves an ecological balance without depleting or permanently dam- aging them, thereby maintaining the potential for future generations to meet their needs and aspirations. Sustainable use in this Strategy refers to consumptive uses of biological resources.
Threatened species: species that are likely to become endangered if the natural and/or human pressures limiting them are not reversed.
Traditional knowledge: knowledge gained from generations of living and working within a family, community or culture.
Unsustainable use: using natural resources at a rate that cannot be sustained over the long term.
Urban biodiversity: the variety and richness of living things, including genetic, species and ecosystem diversity, found in and around cities and towns and other currently or previously developed areas.
Watershed: the area of land that drains into a river, lake or other water body.
Wetlands: land that is saturated with water long enough to promote biological activity adapted to a wet environment. Wetland ecosystems provide ample food sources for a range of plants, insects, microbes, waterfowl and wildlife. They protect us from flooding, drought and climate change. They protect wildlife by providing hundreds of species with safe places to eat, sleep and raise young. They give us natural places to play, learn and explore. They also clean the water we enjoy at beaches, lakes and rivers.
Wilderness areas: Wilderness or wildlands are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity.
Let us know what you think!
We’d love to hear from you.
Back to Top
Follow Us
