

Glossary



GLOSSARY

Acid rain
Some industries make smoke which puts chemicals into the air. When chemicals such as sulphur dioxide are in the air and it rains, the chemicals make the rain more acid. This causes damage to the soil and to plants.

Biodiversity
Biodiversity is a term used to describe the number of different kinds of plants and animals in an area. For example, if there are many different kinds of plants and animals in an area, such as the Kruger National Park, we say it has a high biodiversity. But if, on a farm, only mealies are grown, and there are not many different kinds of birds, animals or insects on that farm, we say it has a low biodiversity.

Catchment areas
A catchment area is the area of ground from which the rainwater all runs off into one river. The rainwater might run off into smaller streams and rivers that all flow into a bigger river. For example, the catchment area of the Vaal river is all the ground from which the water finally runs into the Vaal river.

Commercial plantations
In a commercial plantation trees are planted and grown to be sold for their wood or to make paper. Usually the trees are all of the same kind. In a commercial plantation there are usually very many trees on a very big piece of ground. Most plantations in South Africa are either pine trees, gum trees or wattle trees.

Cradle-to-grave-to-cradle
This refers to the cycle of a product from the raw material, to making the product, to the end of that product's life. The product is then recycled into another new product. For example, a tree is the raw material. It is cut down and made into paper. The paper is used to wrap up a piece of meat in the butcher. Then the paper is thrown away. This throwing away is what we call the 'grave' part of the cycle. But the paper can be recycled into more paper or cardboard. This is the 'cradle' stage again.

Development
By development, we mean changes that will improve the quality of life of people living in an area. For example, putting in schools and hospitals is an example of development. Giving people jobs is development. But the word can also be used to mean the building of a new industry or factory or dam. For example, we talk about big developments having a bad effect on the environment. By this we mean the building of big projects like dams or factories.

Eco-labelling
Eco-labelling is a way of labelling food and products so that the person who buys them knows what kind of effect that product has had on the environment. For example, an eco-label might tell you that food has been grown without any pesticides or chemical fertiliser. Or it might tell you that the paper was made without using any chlorine (a chemical which damages the ozone layer).

Ecosystems
An ecosystem is a natural system in which all the parts interact. All living things are part of an ecosystem. For example, a forest can be described as an ecosystem. All the plants, birds, animals and insects in a forest live together and keep the forest alive. Sometimes, if you take one or two important plants or animals away from an ecosystem, the ecosystem dies or changes a lot. Human beings are part of the ecosystems around us. We need these ecosystems in order to live.

Energy
Energy is a word that describes all the different kinds of fuel that we use to cook, to make machines work, to keep warm, to give us light, and so on. When we burn wood, paraffin, and coal they give us energy for cooking and heating things. Electricity is a kind of energy.

Environmental conventions
An environmental convention is an agreement between two or more countries about how to look after the environment.

Environmental impact assessment
An environmental impact assessment is a way of studying and measuring what kind of effect a project or development is going to have on the environment. For example, when Richards Bay Minerals wanted to mine at St Lucia, they had to do an environmental impact assessment first to see what effect they would have on the environment at St Lucia.

Environmental ombudsman
An environmental ombudsman is a person or group of people that the public can take their complaints about environmental issues to. The ombudsman will then investigate these complaints on behalf of the public. For example,  Mandla  could complain to the ombudsman that the Department of Transport had built a road in such a way that it blocked up the spring where his cattle used to drink. The ombudsman would investigate. If this was true, then the ombudsman would try to get the Department of Transport to fix the problem. If the Department of Transport didn't fix the problem, then the ombudsman could take them to court on behalf of  Mandla .

Estuary
An estuary is the place where a river runs into the sea. In an estuary the sea water and the river water meet each other and mix. They are usually very rich in fish and plant life. Many fish need estuaries to breed in.

Greenhouse gases
Some gases, when they get into the air, cause the air and earth to get warmer. They do this by stopping heat going out from the earth into space. These gases are called greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide, which is released when coal and wood burn, is a greenhouse gas.

Hydro power
Hydro power is electricity made by using the water from a dam or river. The movement of the water is used to make the electricity.

Integrated Environmental Management (IEM)
Integrated Environmental Management is a process worked out by the Department of Environment Affairs to include environmental issues into all development projects. In IEM, the public must be consulted about the environmental issues. IEM is a particular way of checking what the environmental effects of a project will be, and how to make it damage the environment as little as possible.

Incinerator
An incinerator is a large oven used for burning waste at very high temperatures.

Indigenous forests
Indigenous forests are forests that grow naturally in an area. The forest at Knysna in the Eastern Cape is an indigenous forest. It takes a very long time for the trees and other plants to all grow in an indigenous forest.

Mangroves
A kind of tree that grows on the edge of rivers or the coast. The roots of the trees can be seen above the ground.

Minerals
A mineral is something that we mine out of the ground, like coal, gold, asbestos, uranium, iron, and so on.

Minerals processing
When minerals are processed, they are turned from the raw mineral that came out of the ground, into something more useful. For example, iron is processed into iron bars or rods. Asbestos is processed into asbestos sheets to be used for making roofs.

Natural resources
Our natural resources are all those things that we find naturally in the world that we use to survive and to live. They include water, air, land, soil, trees, minerals, animals, plants, the sea.

Nuclear power
Nuclear power is electricity made by using radioactive material like uranium. The materials used in nuclear power are very dangerous, and the waste is dangerous for many thousands of years.

Poaching
Poaching is catching and killing wild animals illegally.

Policy
A policy is a general plan of action or way of doing things for the government. The policy outlines the government's vision and plan of how things should be done.

Precautionary principle
The precautionary principle says that when you are not sure about the effect something will have on the environment, it is better to be very cautious. One should rather be too strict in protecting the environment than let something cause damage.

Protected areas
A protected area is an area that has been set aside for nature conservation and is protected by laws. It can be owned by a private company, by one person, or by the government.

Public protector
The Public Protector is a government official who's job it is to make sure that government officials do their job properly. Any person can complain to the public protector about how the government is doing its job. The public protector will then investigate and make sure that it is done properly.

Ratify
This is a term that is used to describe what happens to international environmental conventions. When a country decides they want to be part of an international convention, the first thing they do is to sign the convention. Then they have to go back to their own parliament and get parliament to accept that they are part of the convention. They also have to pass any laws that they need to make the convention work in their country. This is called ratifying the convention. Only after the convention has been ratified is it like a law in that country.

Renewable resources
Renewable resources are resources which can grow again, such as trees, animals, plants. We can use these resources, and if we use them wisely, they will grow again and we will always have them as resources. Minerals are non-renewable resources. Once we have dug up and burned all the coal, there will be no coal left.

Subsidies
A subsidy is money given by the government to help an industry or farmer. For example, the government gave lots of money to Mossgas and Sasol to try to make petrol and fuel. This money is called a subsidy.

Sustainable development
See Box 1 Waste management
Waste is all the left-over or unwanted material and things that we throw away or get rid of. Waste can be gas, or liquid, or solid. Waste management is the systems for trying to control how much waste we produce, and what happens to it. The three most important things in waste management are reduce, recycle and re-use. One should first try to produce as little waste as possible. Then one should try to recycle as much as one can. And one should try to re-use as much of it as one can. One should throw away as little as possible.

Wetlands
Wetlands are important parts of our rivers and water systems. Wetlands are flat open areas of water or very wet ground. They often have a lot of reeds. Many birds come to wetlands. Wetlands can be very useful for cleaning pollution out of water. For example, you often find wetlands near mine dumps. These wetlands clean a lot of the pollution from the mine dump out of the water before it gets further into the river.

Woodlots
When trees are planted to be used for firewood, it is called a woodlot. A woodlot is usually not as big as a plantation.





