Shared vocabulary (pdf)
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M
Management effectiveness (of protected area)
An assessment of how well a (protected area) is being managed in order to reach the defined goals. For marine protected areas, this means the evaluation of how efficiently the management addresses the threats to marine biodiversity with the aim to secure ecologically positive impacts and to reach the goal of healthy ecosystems.
The term is suggested to be a synonym to the term PACA (Protected and additional conservation area) effectiveness used in the IUCN lexicon.
Managed retreat
The strategic relocation of structures or abandonment of land to manage natural hazard risk. (Hino et al 2017)
Marine protected area (MPA)
An area of sea (or coast) especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means. (CBD)
An area with sustainable use consistent with conservation objectives.
Mitigation
An intervention to reduce negative or unsustainable uses of biodiversity and ecosystems. (IPBES)
Mitigation of climate change
A human intervention to reduce emissions or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases. (IPCC AR6 WGII Full Report Annex II (Glossary))
(MPA) management plans
The management plans regulate or compensate harmful human activities through different actions, such as restricting activities during a certain time or in a certain area, prohibiting certain activities completely, restoring degraded areas, maintaining sustainable and traditional use when appropriate and substituting certain materials or substances with less harmful ones. (HELCOM)
N
Natural
Existing in or derived from nature; not made or caused by humankind. (Oxford Dictionary)
O
Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs)
A geographically defined area other than a protected area, which is governed and managed in ways that achieve positive and sustained long-term outcomes for the in situ conservation of biodiversity with associated ecosystem functions and services and where applicable, cultural, spiritual, socio–economic, and other locally relevant values. (CBD, 2018, this definition also used in the IUCN lexicon)
In the Baltic Sea, an area which is identified in accordance with regional common understanding of the CBD criteria for other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs).
P
Protection
Synonymous with conservation.
Q
Quality (of habitats & biotopes)
The ability of the environment to provide conditions appropriate for individual and population persistence. (Hall et al. (1997:175))
R
Representativity
Representativity is captured by a network when the network consists of areas representing the different biogeographical subdivisions of the sea, which in turn reflect the full range of ecosystems, including the biotic and habitat diversity of those marine ecosystems.
This also corresponds to the integrity, or the degree to which the area, either alone or in association with other protected areas, encompasses a complete ecosystem.
Restoration
Activities that initiate or accelerate the recovery of an ecosystem from a degraded state.
Passive / natural restoration: Ending degradation, e.g. removal of contamination source, restriction of water flow, modifying inappropriate grazing /fire regimes, cessation of logging, agricultural land retirement.
Active / assisted restoration: A combination of the above strategy with abiotic and biotiv interventions, e.g. Abiotic; Active remediation of substrate conditions (physical or chemical), habitat creation, reshaping watercourses, reintroduction of environmental water flows, applying artificial disturbance to promote seed germination. And Biotic; Invasive species management, reintroduction of species, augmenting or reinforcing depleted populations of species.
Reconstructive restoration: A combination of the above strategies with the reintroduction of a major proportion of the desired biota. Possibly mimicking natural successional dynamics. (Atkinson & Bonser 2020, Restoration Ecology)
Risk assessment (ecological)
The process for evaluating how likely it is that the environment might be impacted as a result of exposure to one or more environmental stressors, such as chemicals, land-use change, disease, and invasive species. (EPA https://www.epa.gov/risk/ecological-risk-assessment )
S
Spatial protection network
A collection of individual MPAs operating cooperatively and synergistically at various spatial scales and with a range of protection levels that are designed to meet objectives that a single reserve cannot achieve.
Sustainability
A characteristic or state whereby the needs of the present and local population can be met without compromising the ability of future generations or populations in other locations to meet their needs. (IPBES, from: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, https://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.59.aspx.pdf )
Sustainable development
Development that meets the needs and aspirations of the current generation without compromising the ability to meet those of future generations. (CBD)
Sustainable use (of biodiversity and its components)Risk assessment (ecological)
The use of components of biological diversity in a way and at a rate that does not lead to the long-term decline of biological diversity, thereby maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations. (CBD, 1992, IPBES)
T
Threatened habitat
Area assigned on the basis of quantitative thresholds to one of the three following IUCN categories for ecosystem assessment: Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), and Vulnerable (VU). (IUCN)
Threatened species
Any species which is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. (IUCN, CBD)
In the IUCN Red List terminology, a threatened species is any species listed in the Red List categories Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable. See https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/RL-2001-001-2nd.pdf (IPBES)
Thrive
To grow or develop successfully: to flourish or succeed (The Britannica Dictionary)
U
V
Viable population
A population large enough for long-term survival. (IUCN)
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