Key Definitions
Cumulative Effects: changes to the environment caused by the combination of past, present and "reasonably foreseeable" future actions.
Environment: broadly defined to include social, economic, cultural in addition to natural and biophysical aspects.
Cumulative Effects Assessment: An assessment of the incremental effects of an action on the environment when the effects are combined with those from past, existing and future actions.
Cumulative Effects Monitoring: The collection and analysis of baseline and longitudinal studies to determine changes in the environment resulting from multiple sources.
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Cumulative Effects Management: |
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prevention through planning, design and mitigation. |
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adaptive management: an approach to impact management that acknowledges an uncertain understanding of environmental dynamics; it links flexible management and decision-making to the results of research and monitoring. |
Traditional Knowledge (TK): A cumulative body of knowledge and beliefs handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living things (including humans) with one another and with their environment. TK is an attribute of societies with historical continuity in resource use practices.
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