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coasts and oceans > glossary
GlossaryAquaculture: Fish and other organisms farmed or raised in freshwater environments.
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Biocultural Reserves: Term coined by Daniel Janzen to describe national parks and protected areas that fully involve local people in the management and education activities conducted within them.
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Biodiversity: The term biological diversity, or biodiversity, refers collectively to the full range of species, genes and ecosystems in a given place.
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By-catch: This refers to marine or freshwater fish and other organisms captured by fishing vessels specializing in only a few species. The unwanted �by-catch� is usually tossed over-board, resulting in the death of many valuable species and a waste of potential food.
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CFC�s (Chlorofluorocarbons): A group of chemicals containing chlorine (Cl), fluorine (F) and carbon (C), sometimes referred to by their trade name Freon. These synthetic compounds were used extensively for refrigeration and aerosol sprays until it was realized that they destroy ozone (they are also very powerful greenhouse gases) and have a very long lifetime once in the atmosphere (more than 100 years). The Montreal Protocol agreement of 1987 has resulted in the scaling down of CFC production and use in industrialised countries.
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Coastal management: Efforts by states to manage coastal activities and ecosystems are referred to as coastal zone or coastal area management. This is a complex and difficult area in which to work, as it involves many levels of government and many stakeholders - virtually anyone who lives along a coast, works there, makes a living from the sea or related near-shore areas � are involved in coastal management. It is, in a nutshell, a form of governance and if successful it must be inclusive rather than exclusive.
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Conservation (nature): Protection against irreversible destruction and other undesirable changes, including the management of human use of organisms or ecosystems to ensure such use is sustainable.
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Coral reefs: This term usually refers to hard coral ecosystems, created by coral polpys as they secrete calcium carbonate (the main ingredient in limestone) building their own homes atop those of their predecessors. Soft corals are another form, but much more delicate in shape and they do not build huge limestone formations.
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Development: A process of economic and social transformation that defies simple definition. Though often viewed as a strictly economic process involving growth and diversification of a country's economy, development is a qualitative concept that entails complex social, cultural, and environmental changes. There are many models of what 'development' should look like and many different standards of what constitutes 'success'.
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Ecological balance: Stability in an ecosystem achieved through the development of equilibrium among its various components. This does not imply that the community is static. It is subject to natural variations associated with ecological succession and other influences such as fire, disease and climate change, but the system is normally sufficiently elastic to make the necessary adjustments without major displacement of the balance. Human intervention that includes the introduction or removal of plants and animals, pollution of the environment and destruction of habitat is now a main cause of imbalance in many ecosystems.
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Ecology: Originally defined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, ecology is the study of the relationships that develop among living organisms and between these organisms and the environment.
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El Ni�o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO): El Ni�o is the name originally given by local inhabitants to a weak warm ocean current flowing along the coast of Ecuador and Peru. ENSO is an extensive, intense, atmospheric and oceanic phenomenon affecting the tropical Pacific Ocean. It is associated with major anomalies in atmospheric circulation and rainfall patterns. El Ni�o occurs irregularly, but approximately every four years on average. ENSO events have impacts on fisheries, bird life and mainland weather.
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Endangered species: Species of plants or animals threatened with extinction because their numbers have declined to a critical level as a result of overharvesting or because their habitat has drastically changed. That critical level is the minimum viable population (MVP), and represents the smallest number of breeding pairs required to maintain the viability of species.
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Environment: A combination of the various physical and biological elements that affect the life of an organism. Although it is common to refer to �the� environment, there are in fact many environments eg, aquatic or terrestrial, microscopic to global, all capable of change in time and place, but all intimately linked and in combination constituting the whole earth/atmosphere system.
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Environmentally-sound: The maintenance of a healthy environment and the protection of life-sustaining ecological processes. It is based on thorough knowledge and requires or will result in products, manufacturing processes, developments, etc. which are in harmony with essential ecological processes and human health.
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Erosion: Natural physical and chemical processes by which the soil and the rocks of the Earth's crust are continuously abraded and corroded. Most erosion results from the combined activity of several factors, such as heat, cold, gases, water, wind, gravity, and plant life. In some regions one of these may predominate, such as wind in arid areas. Erosion is grouped into two major divisions: geological erosion, which affects rocks as well as soil, and soil erosion.
"Erosion," Microsoft� Encarta� Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.co.uk � 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Eutrophication: The occurrence of high nutrient levels in freshwater and marine ecosystems, usually resulting in excessive plant growth and the death of animal and some plant life due to oxygen deprivation.
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Fauna: The animal life characteristic of a particular biome. The savanna biome, for example, supports large populations of herbivores, such as wildebeest, antelope and kangaroo, and predators in the form of lions, cheetahs, hyenas and dingoes that prey on them. Any change in a biome, whether natural or human-induced, has the potential to alter the associated fauna.
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Fisheries: Refers to the capture of wild fish and other organisms harvested from the sea or inland waters.
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Global warming: The idea that increased greenhouse gases cause the Earth�s temperature to rise globally.
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Habitat: The particular environment (e.g. tropical moist forest) in which a species or breeding population naturally lives.
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Littoral: Have a sea coast. The coast itself
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Mangrove forests: Some 80 species of mangrove trees � trees on stilts, as they have been described � are found in a wide belt around the earth in tropical and semi-tropical climates. They are biologically rich ecosystems, harbouring some 2,000 species of plants and animals.
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National conservation strategies: Plans that highlight country-level environmental priorities and opportunities for sustainable management of natural resources, following the example of the World Conservation Strategy published by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in 1980. Though governments may support preparation for the strategies, they are not bound to follow IUCN's recommendations.
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Proper resource pricing: The pricing of natural resources at levels which reflect their combined economic and environmental values.
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Sustainable development: Sustainable development has as many definitions as subscribers. In essence, it refers to economic development that meets the needs of all without leaving future generations with fewer natural resources than those we enjoy today. It is widely accepted that achieving sustainable development requires balance between three dimensions of complementary change:
- Economic (towards sustainable patterns of production and consumption)
- Ecological (towards maintenance and restoration of healthy ecosystems)
- Social (towards poverty eradication and sustainable livelihoods)
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TEDs: Turtle Excluding Devices; these are supposed to be fitted to trawl nets in an effort to reduce the by-catch of turtles and other vulnerable marine creatures.
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Trawling: A fishing technique whereby fishing vessels drag a huge sock-like net through the water, capturing many different kinds of organisms in the process. One form, bottom trawling, drags a huge net along the bottom of the sea. It acts almost like a plough, pulling in many fish, shellfish and other organisms and destroying bottom habitats.
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World Commission on Environment and Development: Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1983 to examine international and global environmental problems and to propose strategies for sustainable development. Chaired by Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, the independent commission held meetings and public hearing around the world and submitted a report on its inquiry to the General Assembly in 1987.
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World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD): The World Summit on Sustainable Development takes place from 26 August - 4 September 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Governments, UN agencies, and civil society organisations will come together to assess progress since the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio in 1992 (hence the title 'Rio + 10' for the Johannesburg meeting). Sustainable development is defined in the report from the Rio meeting as being 'economic progress which meets all of our needs without leaving future generations with fewer resources than those we enjoy'.
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