Arabic Sustainability Dictionary

Afforestation

Planting trees on land that has not been forested for a long time.

Biodiversity

The variability among living organisms from all sources, including diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Biodiversity net gain (BNG)

An approach to development that leaves biodiversity in a measurably better state than before.

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

The 1992 international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair sharing of benefits from genetic resources.

Deforestation

The conversion of forest to another land use, such as agriculture, or the long-term reduction of tree canopy cover below a minimum threshold.

Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

EU Regulation 2023/1115, which requires operators to show that certain commodities and products placed on the EU market are deforestation-free and legally produced.

Ecosystem

A dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit.

Ecosystem restoration

Assisting the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded, damaged or destroyed.

Ecosystem services

The benefits people obtain from ecosystems, such as food, clean water, pollination, climate regulation and recreation.

Habitat

The place or type of site where an organism or population naturally occurs.

Invasive alien species (IAS)

Species introduced outside their natural range whose spread threatens native biodiversity.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red List)

The global inventory, maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, that assesses the extinction risk of species.

Key Biodiversity Area (KBA)

A site that contributes significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity, identified using globally agreed criteria.

Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)

The global framework adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2022, with 23 targets for 2030, including protecting 30% of land and sea.

Land use change (LUC)

The conversion of land from one use to another, such as from forest to cropland, which can release stored carbon and destroy habitats.

Mangroves

Salt-tolerant trees and shrubs in coastal intertidal zones that store large amounts of carbon and protect coastlines.

Mitigation hierarchy

A sequence of steps for managing impacts on biodiversity: avoid, minimise, restore and, as a last resort, offset.

Natural capital

The stock of renewable and non-renewable natural resources, such as plants, animals, air, water and soils, that yield benefits to people.

Nature positive

A global goal to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 from a 2020 baseline, so that nature is measurably recovering by 2050.

Nature-based solutions (NbS)

Actions to protect, sustainably manage or restore ecosystems that address societal challenges, such as climate change, while benefiting biodiversity and people.

Nature-related risks

Risks to an organisation arising from its dependencies and impacts on nature, including physical, transition and systemic risks.

Protected area

A clearly defined geographical space recognised and managed, through legal or other effective means, for the long-term conservation of nature.

Reforestation

Replanting trees on land that was recently forested but has been cleared.

Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)

A global initiative that published recommendations in 2023 for organisations to assess and disclose nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities.