Terms
Use of Terms for GDI Areas
This section provides a list of key terms and their definitions for GDI Areas. General agreement on the meaning of terms is critical to ensure clarity among all stakeholders regarding the processes and outcomes of areas managed according to the GDI Standard.
Terms used within the biodiversity community can at times be confusing or unclear. For example, the word ‘biodiversity’ itself has two different meanings. For some, it refers to “the number and variety of organisms found within a specified geographic region.” For others, it refers to “the variability among living organisms on the earth, including the variability within and between species and within and between ecosystems.” For the GDI Standard, we prefer the latter definition which is much closer to the official CBD definition listed below. Importantly, biodiversity includes both species and ecosystems, and indeed “the ecological complexes of which they are part.”
In general, where available, the official CBD definition of a term is used. For some important terms such as ‘species’, however, the CBD does not provide a definition. This section also defines some new terms such as ‘GDI Area’ that are used specifically for the GDI Registry and Standard.
Adaptive Management: A systematic process of continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of existing programs (IUCN)
Biodiversity (Biological Diversity): The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems (CBD)
Baseline Assessment: A baseline is the starting point (a certain date or state) against which the changes in the condition of a variable or set of variables are measured. An assessment comprises the analysis and review of information derived from research for the purpose of helping someone in a position of responsibility to evaluate possible actions, or think about a problem. Assessment means assembling, summarizing, organizing, interpreting, and possibly reconciling pieces of existing knowledge, and communicating them so that they are relevant and helpful to an intelligent but inexpert decision-maker. (CBD SBSSTA9) For a GDI Area, a Biodiversity Baseline Assessment must include stakeholder consultation.
Biodiversity Positive: An attribute of a GDI Area management system, plan or action which results in improvement in the status of the area’s biodiversity in terms of conservation or sustainable use.
Biological Resources: Includes genetic resources, organisms or parts thereof, populations, or any other biotic component of ecosystems with actual or potential use or value for humanity (CBD)
BioSWOT Analysis: A BioSWOT (or Biodiversity SWOT) Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) involved in managing a GDI Area. With respect the conservation and responsible use of biodiversity, it involves identifying the internal – SW – and external factors – OT – that are favourable and unfavourable to achieve these objectives. (Adapted from Wikipedia)
Consensus: General agreement, characterised by the absence of sustained opposition to substantial issues by any important part of the concerned interests. (ISEAL)
Domesticated or Cultivated Species: Species in which the evolutionary process has been influenced by humans to meet their needs (CBD)
Dryland: Arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, other than polar and sub-polar regions, in which the ratio of annual precipitation to potential evapotranspiration falls within the range from 0.05 to 0.65 (UNCCD)
Ecosystem: A dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit (CBD)
Ex-Situ Conservation: Conservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats (CBD)
GDI Area: A geographically-defined area which is listed on the GDI Registry and managed to achieve conserve biodiversity and use it sustainably in the context of sustainable development (Adapted from the CBD definition for a Protected Area)
GDI Hectare: unit of measurement for a GDI Area; an alternative measurement unit is a GDI Acre
Genetic Material: Any material of plant, animal, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity (CBD)
Genetic Resources: Genetic material of actual or potential value (CBD)
Habitat: The place or type of site where an organism or population naturally occurs (CBD)
High Conservation Values (HCVs): Encompass the whole scale from species to landscape, and include exceptional or critical ecological attributes, ecosystem services and social functions (HCV Resource Network)
Indicator: A measure or metric based on verifiable data that conveys information about more than itself (Biodiversity Indicators Partnership)
In-Situ Conservation: The conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties (CBD)
Invasive Alien Species: Alien species that become invasive are considered to be a main direct driver of biodiversity loss across the globe (Global Invasive Species Programme)
Landscapes: A geographical mosaic composed of interacting ecosystems resulting from the influence of geological, topographical, soil, climatic, biotic and human interactions in a given area (IUCN, related to the CBD concept of ‘ecological complexes’ in the CBD definition of biodiversity)
Manager: The agent – individual, communal, corporate or public – with clearly recognised legal or customary rights and responsibilities to manage a GDI Area; also called a Management Authority
Measure: A standard unit used to express size, amount or degree (Biodiversity Indicators Partnership)
Metric: A system or standard of measurement (Biodiversity Indicators Partnership)
Protected Area: A geographically defined area which is designated or regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives (CBD)
Sustainable Development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs. (Bruntland Report)
Sustainable Use: 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)
Stakeholders: Persons, groups or institutions with interests in a project or programme. Primary stakeholders are those ultimately affected, either positively (beneficiaries) or negatively (for example, those involuntarily resettled) Secondary stakeholders are the intermediaries in the aid delivery process. (FAO)
Standard: A document that provides for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods, with which compliance is not mandatory (WTO)
Wetlands: Areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres (Ramsar)
Toolkit
Biodiversity
Management
