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What is "environmental impact"? How is "habitat" defined?
We often add to this glossary of terms to clarify exactly what is meant by the commonly used words and phrases.
Adaptation: This entails adjustments in natural and human systems in response to actual or expected climate change effects, in order to moderate harm or to exploit emerging opportunities.
(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Integrating Climate Change into Forest Policies and Practices, 2012).
(IPCC, 2007 WGII Glossary).
Aesthetics: "To enjoy or take pleasure in one's surroundings which are attractive, appealing and pleasing to the senses. Aesthetics could be positively or negatively impacted or intruded upon, through development. Different people view things differently, and what is aesthetically pleasing to the one may be ugly to the other"
(Reference: Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide, 1996).
Alien species are: "Plants and animals that do not occur naturally in an area. These species are either deliberately or accidentally introduced by human activities."
(Reference: Local Agenda 21 - Durban)
Biosphere Reserves: These are areas of terrestrial and coastal/marine ecosystems, or a combination thereof, which are internationally recognised within the framework of UNESCO's programme on Man and the Biosphere. They are established to promote and demonstrate a balanced relationship between humans and the natural environment. Biosphere Reserves are designated by the international Coordinating Council of Man and the Biosphere programme at the request of the State concerned. Individual Biosphere Reserves remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the State where they are situated
(DEDECT Invitation to the endorsement event of the Biosphere Application to UNESCO on 7 June 2012).
Capacity building: "It means improving an organisation's or community's ability to carry out its tasks effectively and confidently. This includes such things as job skills training and organisational development. It involves providing opportunities for people to gain hands-on working experience. It also involves ensuring that people have full access to the information they need to function effectively"
(Reference: Spatial Development Framework, July 1997).
Carrying Capacity: Maximum population of a particular species that a given habitat can support over a given period of time
(Reference: Living in the Environment, 6th Edition, 1990).
Climate Change vs Climate Variability: Johan van den Berg, specialised crop insurance manager with Santam says “Climate change is the permanent departure from the average and it is mainly due to human causes. Climate variability, on the other hand, is a normal variation. Changes must be observed over a very long period of time, more than a few years, to determine future patterns,” says van den Berg. “Generally speaking however, we are finding that production risk is on the increase, whether it is due to climate change or climate variability” (full article: http://www.environment.co.za/
Conservation is: "The wise use and management of the earth's natural resources of water, soil, air, plants and animals so that they are not degraded, depleted or wasted and are available on a sustainable basis for use by present and future generations."
(Reference: Integrated Environmental Management Guideline Series, Guideline Document 6, 1992.)
Cradle to Grave is: "Responsibility for the environment and health and safety consequences of a policy, programme, product, process, service or activity exists throughout its life cycle. It starts with conceptualisation and planning and runs through all the stages of implementation to re-use, recycling and ultimate disposal of products and waste or decommissioning of the installations"
(Reference: Draft white paper on Environmental Policy of South Africa, 1997)
Cradle to Cradle is: "This concept changes the 'pipeline' approach to production, to one of closing the loop. Producers are encouraged to prevent pollution and reduce resource and energy use throughout the life cycle of the product"
(Reference: Kwazulu-Natal Waste Management Policy - Discussion Document, 1997)
Ecological Limits: There are absolute limits to how far the environment can sustain human activities before natural systems begin to deteriorate. People must live within the carrying capacity of the Earth
(Reference: ICLEI, Agenda 21, June 1992).
Ecosystem: An ecosystem can be a large area of land such as a park or as small as a rotting log. It is a community of organisms interacting with one another and with the chemical and physical factors making up their environment. Any changes to the ecosystem, both natural and human, will affect the living organisms and possibly destroy them
(Reference: Living in the Environment, 6th Edition, 1990).
Exposure: The nature and degree to which a system is exposed to significant climatic variations.
Ecotourism: Purposeful travel to natural areas; to understand the cultural and natural history of the environment; taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem, while producing economic opportunities that make conservation of natural resources beneficial to local people. Conservation can benefit from tourism when economic value is placed on wilderness (e.g. forests, mountains, bush, etc.), thus providing an economic case against development and thus destruction of these areas. There is a benefit to working with the land instead of against it and destroying it
(Reference: received via e-mail from Annette Raaff, September 2012)
Fauna: All living animals, comprising of micro-organisms, birds, mammals, reptiles and insects.
Flora: All living plants.
Futurity: A concern for the wellbeing of future generations. It requires that people currently living, should not deprive their successors of the chance to enjoy opportunities, choices, amenities and resources as good as those presently available
(Reference: ICLEI, Agenda 21 Planning Guide, June 1996).
Integrated Planning: Planning which takes into account all the conditions and circumstances which will play a part in the successful outcome of the plan, and involves all the people or organisations who have a role to play or a contribution to make, e.g. integrated catchment planning
(Reference: Spatial Development Framework, July 1997).
Interested and Affected Parties (IAP's): Individuals or groups concerned with an activity and its consequences.
(Reference: Environmental Management Guideline Series, Guideline Document 6, 1992).
Mitigation: A human intervention to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere by avoiding further emisions from “sources” or by enhancing “sinks”, such as forests, that absorb and store carbon from CO2. Also, from Department of Environmental Affairs guides: The implementation of practical measures to reduce adverse impacts.
Preservation: The protection of functional ecosystems where no human impact is allowed because of the importance of the environmental service being provided or the sensitivity of an area (Reference: Spatial Development Framework, July 1997).
Quality of life: The purpose of development is to enable people to enjoy long, healthy and fulfilling lives. A person's quality of life refers to the link between the person and his/her immediate and broader surroundings that provide a sense of satisfaction that meet their individual needs. An improved quality of life would create a greater sense of well being within a person or a community, and it can be aesthetic, recreational or even economical
(Reference: ICLEI Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide, 1996).
Re-use: To use a product over and over again in the same form. An example is collecting, washing and refilling glass beverage bottles
(Living in the Environment, 6th Edition, 1990).
Recycling: The breaking down and reconstituting of material by passing it through a series of changes or treatment. The collecting and reprocessing of a resource so it can be used again. An example is collecting aluminium cans, melting them down, and using the aluminium to make new cans or other aluminium products (
Living in the Environment, 6th Edition, 1990).
Reduce: Reducing waste is the first step that can be taken to minimise waste. Waste minimisation is about people lessening (reducing) the volume of waste they generate at home, work and in the manufacturing of products. This means using less packaging and finding ways of not having to create excessive materials that have to be thrown away
(Integrated Environmental Management Guideline Series, Guideline Document 6, 1992).
Rehabilitation: Through good environmental management, an area that has been damaged, is gradually improved upon and returned back, as near as possible, to its natural state. Land rehabilitation is a long, slow process and can be very expensive.
Renewable resource: A resource that is normally replenished through natural processes. Examples are: trees in forests, grasses in grasslands, wild animals, fresh water in lakes and rivers, most deposits of groundwater, fresh air and fertile soil. Renewable resources must be used in a sustainable way, i.e. we must not use the resources faster than they are replenished/replaced by natural processes.
Resilience: How we build, how we plan our communities, how we care for each other, and how we value and protect our natural environment can mean the difference between a minor emergency and a community catastrophe.
(Brad Smith, CEC Special Advisor, CEC Newsletter, March/April 2011).
Restoration: Before human interference, what was originally in an area is put back, thereby restoring the area to its original state.
(Living in the Environment, 6th Edition, 1990).
Sensitivity: The degree to which a system is affected, either adversely or benificially, by climate-related stimuli. The effect must be direct (e.g. a change in crop yield in response to a change in the mean, range, or variability of temperature) or indirect (e.g. damages caused by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding due to a rise in the sea level).
Soil erosion: When the eath's protective cover of grass and trees is removed, the exposed soil is washed away when it rains, or blown away by wind, causing soil loss. Soil erosion is a natural process, but it becomes a problem when human activities cause it to occur much faster than normal. Poor land use, such as poor farming practices and overgrazing, removal of trees, incorrectly built roads and paths, and siting of buildings all cause soil erosion.
(Living in the Environment, 6th Edition, 1990).
Stakeholders: Those people or organisations who are directly involved and have a direct interest in a particular area or issue, e.g. stakeholders in local government include local communities, councillors, officials, business, and trade unions, among others.
(Spatial Development Framework, July 1997).
Sustainable Forest Management (SFM): An internationally recognized concept that aims to maintain and enhance the economic, social and environmental value of all types of forests, for the benefit of present and future generations.
(Discussion Document on the Local Government White Paper, May 1997).
Waste management: The management of any activity such as waste production and handling which affects the quantity, quality and composition of the environment, and other effects of waste generated storage, transport, processing, and disposal and clean-up of contaminated sites. Waste management refers to controlling and minimising waste generation at each stage of a process or activity, and thereafter to safely dispose of it in a controlled and managed manner that does not impact excessively on the environment. It includes waste reduction options by improving technology in industry, reducing the type of raw materials used, re-using the waste generated in another process, recycling waste into other products, and finally disposing of it by incineration or landfill (National Holistic Policy for Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) Scoping Document, May 1995).
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