Glossary
 Biodiversity - The diversity or variety of plants, animals and other living things in a particular area or region. It encompasses habitat diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity.
Biotic – Related to or of living organisms or cause by living organisms.
Carbon footprint - A measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.
Climate Change - A regional change in temperature and weather patterns.
Compliance – Conformity with regulatory requirements established by government to protect the environment, human health and safety. This can be voluntary or enforced.
Composting – The controlled biological decomposition of organic material.
Consumption Footprint – The productive land and water resources required to sustain a particular lifestyle.
 Ecological Footprint – The amount of natural resources an individual, a community or a country consumes in a given year.
Ecological Reserves – Areas selected to preserve representative and special natural ecosystems, plant and animal species, features and phenomena.
Ecology – A branch of science concerned with the interrelationships of organisms and their environment.
Ecosystem – Organism of a natural community, together with their physical, chemical and biological environment.
Environment – The complex of physical, chemical and biotic factors (climate, soil and living things) that act on an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival.
 Environmental Stewardship – The careful and responsible management of natural resources, amenities, living organisms and ecosystems for the benefit of present and future generations and encouraging the active participation of persons or groups, including citizens, communities, government and industry.
Greenhouse Effect - The increasing mean global surface temperature of the earth caused by a build up of gases in the atmosphere (including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and chlorofluorocarbon).
Greenhouse Gases – Gases that play a part in the greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide (CO 2, the most significant greenhouse gas), methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, water vapour, CFCs and other trace gases.
Industry-led product stewardship – places the responsibility for the management of the life cycle of a product on those who produce, distribute, sell or use products or containers.
Intertidal – referring to the area of the ocean floor that is exposed at low tide.
 Low level ozone – also called ground level ozone. A bluish gas with a pungent odour. At ground level, ozone is formed by chemical reactions between volatile organic compounds (VOC 2) nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) in the presence of sunlight. VOCs and NO 2 are released by burning coal, gasoline and other fuels, and are naturally released by plants and trees.
Ozone depletion – thinning of the protective layer of the upper atmosphere, known as the ozone layer, by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other human-created ozone-depleting chemicals (ODCs) such as those in aerosols, old refrigerators, air conditioning systems and drinking water coolers.
Partner – an organization or individuals working cooperatively to achieve common goals. Partners of the Ministry of Environment include individuals, organizations, industry, communities and all levels of government.
Shared environmental stewardship – The collective knowledge, commitment and actions of individuals, organizations, communities or other levels of government to achieve environmental objectives.
Stakeholder – An individual, organization, industry, communities and different levels of government who hold an interest in the government initiatives.
Sustainability - The ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes and functions, biological diversity and productivity over time.
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