IUCN Glossary
The IUCN Glossary provides official definitions for terms, based on authoritative IUCN and external sources. This is a reference point for everyone writing for IUCN, including Secretariat staff and Commission members, as well as external conservation practitioners and other related parties. It is intended for use in IUCN outputs, including publications and on the IUCN website.
Most definitions are included based on the following hierarchy of adoption: IUCN World Conservation Congress Resolution; IUCN Council Decision; official IUCN Publication; adoption by an IUCN Commission. Some definitions are based on external sources.
All definitions are worded in such a way that they could replace the defined word in a sentence; examples, caveats, and detailed explanations have been removed from all definitions.
If you find any errors or omissions in the Glossary, please send these to [email protected], where they will be considered for inclusion accordingly. Please provide all relevant sources. Where multiple definitions exist at the same level of adoption, the Glossary includes them all. The hierarchy for source URLs is: a) DOIs; b) IUCN Library records; c) other URLs.