Dictionary

The 30x30 target is a global conservation ambition to conserve or protect at least 30 percent of land and sea areas by 2030.

Land and water degraded by past mining where no responsible party remains to clean it up, posing safety and pollution hazards that typically require publicly funded reclamation.

Access and benefit sharing refers to arrangements for accessing genetic resources or associated knowledge and sharing benefits arising from their use.

The outflow of acidic, metal-rich water from mine sites, formed when sulphide minerals such as pyrite are exposed to air and water; a persistent legacy mining pollution problem.

The capacity of a substance to cause harm from a single or short-term exposure, classified under the UN Globally Harmonized System into five hazard categories for each exposure route.

A structured, iterative approach to managing natural resources in which policies are treated as hypotheses and management actions as experiments, enabling learning under uncertainty.

The variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms — at genetic, species and ecosystem levels — that sustains food production and the functioning of agricultural ecosystems.

An approach to farming and food systems that applies ecological principles — diversity, recycling, synergy and local knowledge — framed by FAO's 10 Elements adopted by 197 member countries in 2019.

A land-management system in which woody perennials are deliberately integrated with crops or livestock so the components interact ecologically and economically over space or time.

The contamination of indoor or outdoor air by chemical, physical or biological agents, responsible for millions of premature deaths each year and the largest environmental threat to human health.

The condition of the air in a given place, measured against pollutant benchmarks such as the WHO global air quality guidelines, which were tightened substantially in 2021.

An air quality index is a public communication scale that translates measured air pollution levels into categories of health or exposure concern.

An algal bloom is a rapid increase in algae in a water body, often linked to nutrient enrichment and sometimes associated with reduced water quality or harmful toxins.

An agroforestry practice in which crops are grown in the alleys between rows of trees or shrubs, which are pruned for mulch, fodder or timber and help maintain soil fertility.

The Alliance for Water Stewardship is a standard-setting and membership organisation focused on responsible water use and catchment-level water stewardship.

The diversity of species within a single site, habitat or community — the local scale in Whittaker's classic three-level framework for measuring biodiversity.

The physical and mental state of an animal in relation to the conditions in which it lives and dies, governed internationally by WOAH standards and the Five Freedoms.

The farming of fish, shellfish, crustaceans and aquatic plants — the world's fastest-growing food production system, now exceeding capture fisheries in output.

An ecosystem based in water — freshwater (lakes, rivers, wetlands) or marine (oceans, estuaries, reefs) — supporting the organisms and processes that depend on aquatic environments.

A body of rock or sediment that stores and transmits groundwater in usable quantities — the source of wells and springs and the world's main store of accessible freshwater.

Aquifer depletion is the reduction of groundwater stored in an aquifer when extraction exceeds recharge over time.

Land under temporary crops, temporary meadows and temporary fallow — the FAO's statistical category for land in regular crop cultivation, distinct from land that is merely "potentially cultivable".

In ecology, a taxonomically related group of species populations occurring together in a place — a narrower, taxonomy-bound relative of the term "community".

Basis risk is the risk that a hedge and the underlying physical exposure do not move in the same way.

A chocolate production model in which one maker controls the whole process from raw cacao bean to finished bar — associated with traceable sourcing and premium farmer prices.

Best available techniques are the most effective and advanced practicable methods for preventing or reducing emissions and environmental impacts in a regulated context.

The turnover of species between sites or habitats — Whittaker's middle scale of diversity, linking local (alpha) richness to regional (gamma) diversity.

The build-up of substances such as mercury or persistent organic pollutants in an organism's tissues over time — faster intake than the body can eliminate.

The capacity of an area's ecosystems to regenerate the biological materials people use and absorb associated waste — the supply side of the ecological footprint accounts.

Biochemical oxygen demand is a measure of the oxygen microorganisms need to break down organic matter in water.

The interlinked diversity of life and culture — biological, cultural and linguistic — arising from millennia of human–nature interaction, recognised by IPBES and the CBD–UNESCO joint programme.

The variability of life within species, between species and across ecosystems, together with the relationships that allow living systems to function.

A plan setting out how a country — or a company — will conserve and restore biodiversity: nationally mandated under the CBD, and increasingly adopted as corporate nature strategy.

A certificate representing a measured gain in biodiversity over a defined area and period — an emerging instrument for channelling private finance to conservation, with unresolved integrity questions.

A biodiversity footprint is an estimate of the pressures or impacts that an organisation, product, activity or consumption pattern places on biodiversity.

A region that is both exceptionally rich in species found nowhere else and exceptionally threatened — 36 such hotspots guide global conservation priority-setting.

The accelerating decline in the variety of life — species, ecosystems and genetic diversity — driven primarily by land- and sea-use change, exploitation, climate change, pollution and invasive species.

Biodiversity net gain is a planning or project approach that aims to leave biodiversity measurably better than before, within a defined method and boundary.

A biodiversity offset is a measurable conservation action intended to compensate for residual biodiversity impacts after avoidance, minimisation and restoration steps.

A holistic farming system rooted in Rudolf Steiner's 1924 lectures — treating the farm as a self-contained living organism — certified worldwide under the Demeter label.

Controlling pests with their natural enemies — predators, parasitoids and diseases — as the ecological core of integrated pest management.

A biological substance or condition that can harm human health, animal health or the environment — the hazard class behind biosafety controls and bio-waste rules.

The increase in concentration of persistent substances at each successive trophic level of a food chain — why top predators carry the heaviest toxic loads.

The systematic search for commercially valuable genetic resources and biochemical compounds in plants, animals and microorganisms.

The process by which ecological communities in different places become increasingly similar — specialists replaced by widespread generalists — eroding beta diversity.

The water-based elements of urban infrastructure — rivers, wetlands, canals, retention basins and sustainable drainage — managed, often with vegetation, as a network delivering flood, water-quality and liveability benefits.

Blue water is freshwater in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and aquifers that can be withdrawn or used directly.

The highly saline byproduct stream of desalination and industrial processes — a growing waste-management challenge and, increasingly, a source of recovered minerals such as lithium and magnesium.

Land whose redevelopment is complicated by the actual or potential presence of contamination — the regulatory category anchoring remediation-and-reuse programmes.

Wild animals harvested for food — a protein and income lifeline for millions of rural people and, unmanaged, a leading driver of wildlife decline in tropical forests.

The portion of a fishing catch that is not the primary target — from retained incidental species to discarded and unobserved mortality — a leading threat to seabirds, turtles, sharks and marine mammals.

The C price is the ICE Arabica coffee futures benchmark price used as a reference in parts of the coffee trade.

Starbucks' coffee-sourcing verification programme, developed with Conservation International, scoring farms and mills against economic, social and environmental criteria through third-party audits.

The maximum population of a species that an environment can sustain indefinitely, given available food, water, habitat and other resources.

Cash price is the current price for immediate or near-term physical sale of a commodity.

A catchment is the land area from which rainfall and surface water drain into a common river, lake, aquifer or other water body.

Voluntary and legally binding commitments by Brazilian meatpackers to stop buying cattle linked to Amazon deforestation — the backbone of beef-sector zero-deforestation efforts since 2009.

An umbrella label for chemicals targeted for restriction or substitution because of serious, often irreversible effects on health or the environment.

Chemical oxygen demand is a measure of the oxygen equivalent needed to chemically oxidise organic and inorganic matter in water.

ChemSec's list of around 1,500 chemicals meeting REACH's SVHC criteria but not yet regulated — described as "REACH without the political roadblocks".

Coffee cherry is the fruit of the coffee plant that contains the coffee seeds later processed into green coffee beans.

A substance's capacity to cause harm over prolonged or repeated exposure — classified under the GHS into four long-term aquatic hazard categories using NOEC thresholds.

Climate-smart agriculture is an approach to farming that seeks to improve productivity, resilience and emissions outcomes in a changing climate.

Cocoa bean equivalent is a conversion measure that expresses cocoa products in terms of the amount of raw cocoa beans needed to produce them.

A US regulatory category for large-scale confined livestock operations whose waste streams pose significant water, air and climate risks.

An FAO-defined farming system built on three principles: minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and diversification of crop species.

Waste generated by building, renovation and demolition activities — the largest single waste stream in the European Union.

A cooperative union is a higher-level organisation formed by multiple cooperatives to provide shared services, market access or representation.

The loss of corals' symbiotic algae under heat stress, leaving them white and starving; repeated mass bleaching threatens reef survival.

Cost of production is the total cost required to produce a product or commodity within a defined boundary.

Cost, insurance and freight is a trade term under which the seller covers cost, insurance and freight to a named destination port.

Planting crops primarily to protect and improve the soil between cash-crop seasons, rather than for harvest.

A coyote is an informal or local intermediary who buys agricultural products from producers and resells them into a wider supply chain.

Areas of high biodiversity value, as defined by IFC Performance Standard 6, where developments face stringent mitigation and net-gain requirements.

Crop diversification is the practice of producing a wider mix of crops to reduce dependence on a single product and improve farm resilience.

The planned sequencing of different crops on the same land across seasons to maintain soil fertility, break pest cycles and diversify farm output.

Cultural services are non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems, including recreation, identity, spiritual value, education and aesthetic experience.

A cupping score is a sensory quality score assigned to coffee through a structured tasting protocol.

Attempts to create functional proxies of extinct species through back-breeding, cloning or genome engineering — guided by IUCN principles and contested in conservation.

Low-oxygen (hypoxic) areas of oceans and lakes where eutrophication-driven algal decay has depleted oxygen, leaving most aquatic life unable to survive.

Defect count is the number or severity of defects identified in a coffee sample under a grading method.

The long-term conversion of forest to another land use, with the exact boundary determined by the forest definition, purpose and rule being applied.

A decline in forest structure, composition or ecological capacity that leaves land classified as forest but reduces what the forest can sustain or provide.

Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from climatic variations and human activities — the subject of the UNCCD.

A differential is a price adjustment above or below a benchmark commodity price reflecting quality, origin, logistics, timing or commercial terms.

Diffuse pollution is pollution that comes from many scattered or hard-to-trace sources rather than a single discharge point.

Digital sequence information is a policy term for genetic sequence data in digital form, especially in debates about access and benefit sharing.

Drivers of biodiversity loss are the direct or indirect causes of decline in species, habitats, ecosystems or genetic diversity.

A dry mill is a coffee processing facility where dried coffee is hulled, sorted, graded and prepared for export or roasting.

Any discarded product with a plug or battery — 62 million tonnes generated globally in 2022, of which only 22.3 per cent was properly collected and recycled.

The Earth Commission's 2023 extension of planetary boundaries, adding justice criteria — limits that avoid significant harm to people as well as Earth-system stability.

An ecological corridor is a connected area or route that allows species, genes, ecological processes or habitats to move or function across a landscape or seascape.

Ecosystem collapse is a severe transformation in which an ecosystem loses defining features, functions or species composition.

The contributions of ecosystems to benefits that people use and value, including material, regulating and non-material benefits.

Effluent is liquid waste or wastewater discharged from a facility, process, treatment system or site.

An emission limit value is a legally or technically specified maximum amount, concentration or rate of a pollutant that may be emitted.

An endemic species is a species naturally found only in a particular geographic area or ecological setting.

Eutrophication is the enrichment of water bodies with nutrients that can trigger excessive plant or algal growth and reduce water quality.

Ex-works is a trade term under which the seller makes goods available at its premises and the buyer bears most transport and export responsibilities.

A farmer field school is a participatory training approach where farmers learn through practical field observation, experimentation and peer exchange.

Farmgate price is the price received by a farmer at the point of sale from the farm, before later trading, processing or export costs.

FOB price is the price of goods delivered free on board at the named port or shipment point, excluding later freight and insurance costs.

Food security is the condition in which people have reliable physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.

Free on board is a trade term assigning responsibility and cost up to the point goods are loaded on board a vessel at the named port.

A futures contract is a standardised agreement traded on an exchange to buy or sell an asset or commodity at a future date and price.

Green coffee is unroasted coffee beans prepared for export, trading or roasting.

Green water is rainwater stored in soil and used by plants through evapotranspiration.

Grey water is a water-footprint concept representing the volume of freshwater needed to dilute pollutants to meet defined water-quality standards.

Habitat fragmentation is the breaking up of continuous habitat into smaller or more isolated patches, often reducing ecological connectivity and species movement.

Habitat restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of a degraded, damaged or destroyed habitat toward a healthier ecological condition.

Hazardous waste is waste with properties that can pose risks to human health or the environment, such as toxicity, flammability, corrosivity or reactivity.

Heavy metals are metallic elements such as lead, mercury, cadmium or arsenic that can be toxic or persistent at certain concentrations or exposures.

Hedging is the use of financial or commercial arrangements to reduce exposure to price, currency or other market risk.

High carbon stock describes forests or land areas with significant carbon storage value, often used in land-use and deforestation-risk assessment.

High conservation value describes biological, ecological, social or cultural values considered outstandingly significant or critically important within a landscape or site.

The honey process is a coffee processing method in which some mucilage remains on the bean during drying.

Income gap is the difference between actual income and a target or benchmark income level, such as a living income benchmark.

Incoterms are standard trade terms defining responsibilities for delivery, costs, risk transfer and documentation in international commerce.

An input subsidy is financial or in-kind support that lowers the cost of farm inputs such as seed, fertiliser, tools or crop protection products.

Intercropping is the cultivation of two or more crops in the same field or production area during overlapping growing periods.