Additional Definitions

To describe these sys­tems, their tra­jec­to­ries of change, and our abil­i­ty to influ­ence them towards a more sus­tain­able future, we define sev­er­al core elements:

Bio­di­ver­si­ty — the vari­abil­i­ty with­in and among all liv­ing organ­isms and the eco­log­i­cal com­plex­es in which they occur. Bio­di­ver­si­ty includes ecosys­tem or com­mu­ni­ty diver­si­ty, species diver­si­ty, genet­ic diver­si­ty and the eco­log­i­cal and evo­lu­tion­ary process­es that sus­tain it.

Ecosys­tem Ser­vices — the many ben­e­fits that flow from bio­di­ver­si­ty to peo­ple in ways that can sus­tain, enrich and ful­fill our lives.

• Nature encom­pass­es both bio­di­ver­si­ty and ecosys­tem ser­vices, and the process­es nec­es­sary to main­tain them.

Human Well-Being — describes the state in which a per­son can act mean­ing­ful­ly to pur­sue cho­sen goals, enjoys a sat­is­fac­to­ry qual­i­ty of life, and has her or his needs met.