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Did you know? Common Environmental Terms |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 10 September 2009 08:19 |
- Was 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.
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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)
- 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).
- 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 conseptualisation 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)
- Environment is: “Surroundings that comprise living and non-living elements, such as land, soil, plants and animals, climate, temperature, air, water, natural resources, humans and their inter-relationships. It also refers to the social, economic and natural surroundings of a person and the external circumstances, conditions and objects that affect the existence and development of an individual, organism or group. These circumstances include biophysical, social, economic, historical, cultural and political aspects.”
- (Reference: Integrated Environmental Management Guideline Series, Guideline Document 6, 1992.)
- Environmental impact is: “Any change to the environment, resulting from the activities of people, organisations and natural occurences such as droughts and floods. If a number of similar activities occur in a particular area, it is important to consider cumulative impacts of these activities”
- (Reference: Integrated Environmental Management Guideline Series, Guideline Document 6, 1992.)
- Habitat is: “The place or type of place where an organism or community of organisms (plants and animals) lives and thrives, such as grasslands or wetlands. The habitat of the Water Berry tree is a wetland, while the habitat of a cane rat is grassland. If a habitat changes (e.g. a wetland is drained), all the species that live there will either move, adapt or die”
- (Reference: Living in the Environment, 6th Edition, 1990.
- Indigenous species are: "Plants or animals that are naturally found in a specific area or is native to an area, e.g. crocodiles are indigenous to Africa, while alligators are indigenous to America.”
- (Reference: Local Agenda 21 - Durban)
- Invasive species are: "Alien species that thrive in an area, taking over and destroying plants and animals that are indigenous (grow and live naturally) in the area."
- (Reference: Local Agenda 21 - Durban)
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Last Updated on Saturday, 03 April 2010 11:19 |
Environmental Terms