UNCCD Terminology

Keywords

Above ground biomass

Glossary source
PRAIS
The biomass of living vegetation, both woody and herbaceous, above the soil including stems, stumps, branches, bark, seeds, and foliage See also ‘Below ground biomass’

Ad hoc panel

Glossary source
UNCCD Terminology

The Conference of the Parties may appoint ad hoc panels on the recommendation of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST), whose function is to provide advice and information on specific issues, regarding scientific and technical matters. Its members are experts, whose names are taken from a roster of government-nominated experts, considering the need for a multidisciplinary approach and broad geographical representation.

Adaptation

Glossary source
PRAIS

The process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects. In human systems, adaptation seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In some natural systems, human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects.

Administrative unit

Glossary source
PRAIS

A geographic area that serves administrative and governmental functions. They are usually defined and established by legal action.

Advance market commitments

Glossary source
PRAIS

An Advance Market Commitment (AMC) is a promise or agreement to take some future action. For example, a promise by a buyer to purchase goods at a price set beforehand is an advance commitment. In financial markets, parties may make an advance commitment to sell an asset before they own it; the seller often buys a futures contract to offset the risk of a price increase at the time of purchase. In banking, a financial institution will make an advance commitment to a borrower to lend funds on a specified date on agreed-upon terms. 

(Source: http://www.investopedia.com/)

Advocacy

Glossary source
PRAIS

Advocacy is the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal.
(Source: OECD Development Assistance Committee (2002), Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Based Management. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/29/21/2754804.pdf)

Affected countries/areas

Glossary source
UNCCD Terminology

According to 1992 United Nations estimates, over 110 countries in all continents are affected by desertification, which is defined as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and/or dry sub-humid areas.

Afforestation

Glossary source
PRAIS

Afforestation is planting of new forests on lands that historically have not contained forests.

Agenda

Glossary source
UNCCD Terminology

A programme of work that the Conference of the Parties adopts and uses to guide its work; the annotated agenda contains a more detailed explanation of each agenda item.

Agenda Item

Glossary source
UNCCD Terminology

Specific issue listed in the Agenda to be addressed by a given meeting.

Aggregation

Glossary source
PRAIS

The combination of related categories, usually within a common branch of a hierarchy, to provide information at a broader level to that at which detailed observations are taken.

Agriculture, value added (% of gross domestic product)

Glossary source
PRAIS
One of the factors recommended to estimate the economic component of the Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI). Agriculture corresponds to International Standard Industrial Classifications (ISIC) divisions 1-5 and includes forestry, hunting, and fishing, as well as cultivation of crops and livestock production. This factor refers to the value added for agriculture as a percentage of the gross value added at factor cost. It implies a higher coping capacity of populations. See also ‘Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI)’

Agro-ecological unit

Glossary source
PRAIS

A land resource mapping unit, defined in terms of climate, landform and soils, and/or land cover, and having a specific range of potentials and constraints for land use.
(Source: http://www.fao.org/faoterm/en/)

Agroforestry

Glossary source
PRAIS

Integrates the use of woody perennials with agricultural crops and/ or animals for a variety of benefits and services, including better use of soil and water re-sources; multiple fuel, fodder, and food products; and habitat for associated species.

Amounts mobilized through public interventions

Glossary source
PRAIS
Amounts mobilised from the private sector by official development finance intervention. In OECD DAC statistics, mobilisation means the stimulation by specific financial mechanisms/interventions of additional resource flows for development. Amounts mobilised from the private sector are collected following an instrument-specific approach (see Annex 6). They cover all private finance mobilised by official development finance interventions regardless of the origin of the private funds (provider country, recipient country, third country). For the purpose of the SO5 indicator framework, amounts mobilized through public interventions can be reported under SO5-1 for practical reasons (as they are incorporated in the OECD DAC CRS), but should be summed up to the amounts reported under SO5-3, international private resources.

Annual Net Primary Productivity (ANPP)

Glossary source
PRAIS

Net Primary Productivity is the net amount of carbon assimilated after photosynthesis and autotrophic respiration over a given period of time. It is typically represented in units such as kg/ha/year (annual NPP or ANPP).
(Source: Clark, D.A., Brown, S., Kicklighter, D. W., Chambers, J. Q., Thomlinson, J. R. and Ni, J. (2001), measuring net primary production in forests: concepts and filed methods. Ecological Applications, 11: 356-370. Doi:10.1890/1051-0761 (2001)011[0356:MNPPIF]2.0.CO;2)

Aquaculture

Glossary source
PRAIS

Aquaculture -- also known as fish or shellfish farming -- refers to the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of plants and animals in all types of water environments including ponds, rivers, lakes, and the ocean.

Arab Maghreb Union (UMA)

Glossary source
UNCCD Terminology

Established in 1989, UMA is a sub-regional intergovernmental organisation that, amongst other attributions, assists North African countries to implement the Convention. UMA’s members include Algeria, Lybia, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

Area closure

Glossary source
PRAIS
Enclosing and protecting an area of degraded land from human use and animal interference to permit natural rehabilitation, enhanced by additional vegetative and structural conservation measures.

Arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas

Glossary source
UNCCD Terminology

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.