What's in a Word?

When discussing pollinator conservation and habitat restoration, terms are batted around interchangeably, so they don't always have a consistent meaning. For example, how do habitats and ecosystems vary, and do people use the terms correctly when talking about restoring a specific location to its natural state? Restoring balance goes beyond pollinators; we've included other terms you may also encounter.

Hopefully, this list of the most common definitions will help you keep the terminology straight:

Conservation – the act of caring for air, minerals, plants, soil, water, and wildlife by maintaining a diversity of species and ecosystems. Conservation of nonrenewable resources involves recycling and other means of efficient use. Often the term preservation is used in place of conservation.

Restoration – a process of reversing the damage done to an area by assisting in its recovery back to its former condition.

Afforestation - establishing a forest or stand of trees (forestation) in an area where there was no previous tree cover.

Bee rentals – the practice of farmers renting bees to ensure the best pollination of their fruit and other crops. Their crops are too valuable to be dependent on wild pollinators alone.

Bio-diversity – the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms within a given area that work together to maintain balance and support life.

Carbon Footprint – a measure of your activities' impact on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by burning fossil fuels. Carbon emissions accumulate in the atmosphere and cause global warming.

Climate change includes global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Contributors to climate change mitigation include changes in agriculture, reduction in carbon emissions, reforestation and forest preservation, and improved waste management.

Deforestation, clearcutting, or clearing is the removal of a forest or a stand of trees from land that is then converted to a non-forest use.

Eco-friendly - environmentally friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green) are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines, and policies that claim reduced, minimal, or no harm to ecosystems or the environment.

Ecology - considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels.

Ecosystem – The larger community of living and nonliving things that interact together and mutually benefit each other. An ecosystem consists of many habitats.

Ecotourism is a form of tourism that involves responsible travel to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, provide funds for ecological conservation, directly benefit local communities' economic development and political empowerment, or foster respect for different cultures and human rights.

Endangered species - a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, and invasive species.

Greenhouse Effect - the warming of climate that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from the Earth toward space. Certain gases in the atmosphere resemble glass in a greenhouse, allowing sunlight to pass into the 'greenhouse' but blocking Earth's heat from escaping into space. The gases contributing to the greenhouse effect include water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxides, and chlorofluorocarbons.

Habitat – the natural environment where a plant or animal thrives or the neighborhood where it lives and grows.

Habitat conservation - a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation, or reduction in range.

Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, involves protecting and restoring marine species, populations, habitats, and ecosystems in oceans and seas worldwide and mitigating human activities such as overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, whaling, and other issues that impact marine life and habitats.

Microplastics - small plastic pieces less than five millimeters long that harm our ocean and marine life. They come from various sources, including from larger plastic debris that degrades into smaller and smaller pieces.

Natural resources - resources that exist without any actions of humankind. It includes sunlight, atmosphere, water, land, minerals, vegetation, and animal life.

Pesticides – DANGEROUS chemical agents used for repelling, preventing, or destroying unwanted pests (insecticides), weeds (herbicides), rodents (rodenticides), and fungi (fungicides).

Plastic recycling - the process of recovering scrap or waste plastic and reprocessing the material into useful products. It can reduce dependence on landfills, conserve resources, and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, it remains challenging from a technical and economic standpoint, causing it to lag behind other recycling efforts.

Pollution - the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change.

Pollutants - a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effects or adversely affects a resource's usefulness.

Stewardship – the responsible planning and management of resources. Environmental stewardship refers to the responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices.

Sustainability – the ability to exist and develop without depleting the natural resources necessary for future generations.