Glossary (Draft)

Basic Concepts & Tools related to management of Protected Areas

Adaptation: Initiatives and measures for the mitigation of the vulnerability of the natural and anthropogenic systems, against present or future environmental effects.

Adaptive approach, Adaptive environmental management: The collection of concepts, techniques and processes for designing management plans and alternative policies, as a structured process of 'learning by doing'. It provides a forum, through which people with different roles and perspectives, share ideas and develop new ones. It brings together different approaches and views, and experiences from other places, relevant to the issues. The adaptation approach at management strategies allows changes in the decisions and planning, that is based in former knowledge and experience, in order to maximize the benefit and improve the existing and future practice and policies.

Appropriate technology: The technology planned with main focus the environment, cultural and economic dimensions of the society, which it serves. It requires fewer resources, is easily maintained and has a smaller cost and less environmental impacts.

ΒΑΤ- Best Available Technology: The available technology, which aims at the protection of the environment and the preservation of natural resources, without regard to its application cost.

ΒΑΤ-ΝΕΕC Best Available Technology Not Entailing Excessive Costs: The term integrates a cost benefit analysis and basically it constitutes a compromise between the Best Available Technology and the cost that the corporation has to pay if applying this technology. In the European Union, this practice is used, but there is also the opinion that this better technology, even if at present is very expensive, in the end it is going to pay back the cost of the initial investment, because it modernizes the establishment (less consumption of energy-water). Another important point here, is who the establishment is going to use the fact that it applies the BAT (marketing). Somehow, the establishment has to show its comparative advantage in relation to other establishments. These establishments take a certificate from the state (green stamp or ISO). Two other critical points are: -the emission standards are mandatory not volunteering -the ΒΑΤ often approaches but can also overlap or come short of standards. There is always as cycle: when the technology is perfected, then the standard go higher, etc.

Carrying Capacity of a system: The ability of a system (e.g. ecosystem) to preserves its functionality,e.g., to maintain its population, in relation to the available natural resources (food, water, habitats)

Clean Technologies: The application of 'clean technologies' aims at the mitigation of the required raw materials, the reduced use of natural resources and energy, the maximum recycling of materials and the reduced emission to the environment by production processes. Often the term 'Cleaner' Technologies is mentioned.

Coastal water: refers to the surface water that is at the side of the coastline, every point of which is at distance of 1 mile towards the sea, from the nearest point of the baseline, on which the range of territorial water depends and according to each case, they extend to the limit of the transition water.

Cost-benefit analysis: The cost appraisal of the negative and positive impacts, related to a specific action. In order for a management authority or corporation, to integrate an action to its project, often asks to appraise or assess the investment's performance, because the cost shifts to the consumer or use, and if the consumer/user is not willing to pay the additional cost, then management authority or corporation faces a problem. Therefore, very often, the willingness of the consumer/user to pay, is evaluated. If the result is negative, then the investment can not be made. Of course, there is a difference between the willingness to pay and the ability to pay. If the later does not exist and the first does, the state must intervene and ensure the 'social'benefit. The implementation of those principles, allows industries to block technologists and environmental organizations, and sometimes the state, in relation to the limitations of environmental investment - intervention that must be made at levels that don'tt have a forbidden cost for consumers/users.

Critical Pathways Analysis: This analysis links the quality standards of the recipient with the emission standards and concludes with recommended 'maximum allowed/tolerance limits'. The less available the data of the pollutants impact are, the more increased, the safety valve/factor must be. When after many measurements/studies, we come to know with a greater certainty the harmful concentration (usually through laboratory experiments and toxicological approaches), in these cases the limit of 'effect' is sub-divided by ten and this price is the quality standard. With less data the safety factor increases in orders of magnitude (by100 or/and1000).

Ecology: is the science that studies the relationships, between living organisms including humans, and also the organisms' relationship with abiotic factors of the environment. The term was used for the first time in 1869 by the German Biologist Ernest Haeckel in his work Generelle Morfologie der Organismen (General Morphology of Organisms). Haeckel defined Ecology as the science of the group of relationships of the organisms with environment, including, in the wider meaning, all the forms of life. The term comes from the Greek words oikos (household) and logos and means literally the study of the natural house.

Ecological succession is the procedure through which all the ecosystems are created and include the group of changes of the ecosystem, as it ages or evolves towards a more stable (stabilized) state adjusted to the new conditions.

Eco Labelling: Eco-labelling is an environmental labeling of products aiming at informing the consumers about products, which during their life cycle have lesser impacts to the environment. Its objective is to encourage consumers to choose the "eco -responsible" one.

Ecological footprint: It is an administrative tool of measuring the natural resources (land or sea area) needed by the human populations, in order to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb the produced wastes, with the current technology.

Eco Auditing: A system of environmental control, that refers to the volunteering development of systems of environmental control by industries, corporations and institutes and aims at a) the mitigation of the corporation's environment impacts, b) the facilitation of controlling the environmental practices, and c) the confirmation of the company's environmental policies.

Ecosystem is the study area (habitat or biotope) that includes the group of organisms that live in it (biocommunity), the areas abiotic factors and the continuous interactions.

End of pipe approach: Was on of the first approaches for handling environmental problems, according to which, depollution technologies are applied, in the case of environmental tensions.

Externalization of costs or benefits: Cost or benefit that is not included in the market price of a product or service, produced or offered. The cost is not given by those who created it and is not paid by those who accept it.

Green Chemistry: The approach of the Chemistry science, according to which processes are designed or used, and products are produced, which reduce and/or mitigate, the use or production of harmful substances. According to this approach, alternative raw materials are used, water instead of organic solutions and solutions and solvents, synthesis routs and recovery of the used substances. Up until today, the production processes were designed in order to be more effective at the less possible cost. In our days, the toxicological/ecotoxicological effects of raw material and by/side- products have do be taken into consideration in the design, in order to control the cost of neutralization/removal of the harmful substances, imposed by the legislation and sustainable development principles. Green Accounting: The identification, priorities setting, quantification and mostly the integration of the cost, which comes from using the environment (use or selling of natural resources and their products) at economic scale (μεγέθη).

Habitat: It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds (biotic and abiotic) a species population.

3I approach: Information, Integration, Implementation: The effectiveness of the management planning is maximized when: a) the stakeholder are informed correctly b) when the management policies are integrated with the policies that refer to the specific area, where the establishment functions, and c) the implementation of management plans in a model way and in accordance with the initial planning.

Life cycle ++

Mitigation: Technology changes that reduce the use of raw material and emission per product units. Although, there are economic, social and technology policies, that lead to emissions reduction, in relation to climate change, mitigation refers to the implementation of policies, which reduce the greenhouse gases emissions and increase the reserves.

3P Principle - Polluter pays principle: The polluter pays principle means, that all those who cause environmental damages must pay the cost of their avoidance or compensation. Therefore, in most cases the financial support of environmental policies by public resources must be avoided, because this financial support is expected to be raised by the polluters.

Precautionary Principle: The precautionary principle states that if the scientific data are inadequate or uncertain or don not come to final conclusions for an effect to the environment, then should be taken the same measures, as if it was roved that there is a negative effect. The is a serious difference between USA and Europe: in the USA the 'precautionary principle must be based on sound scientific data', and someone accuses an activity for having a harmful effect must actually prove it, while in Europe the 'accused' must prove that activity does not have harmful effects.

Prevention Principle: According to this principle, action is taken for the protection of the environment at an early stage. i.e. Measures are taken to avoid any environmental damages occur. This principle adopts the principle, that prevention is better than restoration.

Proportionality principle: According to this principle, the extend of every action and its corresponding investment of efforts and resources, must be assigned to the aimed goal. For example, for a measure that aims at the restraint of pollution by 2%, it is not reasonable to invest 50% of the budget. The proportionality principle is based on principles of reason and ethics.

Public-Private Partnership -P3 - PPP: It describes a governmental service or a company of the private sector, that the financial support and functions through the government's collaboration and of one or more companies of the private sector. In some P3 types the government uses tax income for investments and projects, implemented jointly by the private sector after contracting. In other P3 types the investments are made by the private sector in the framework of contracts, while the government provides agreed services.

Restoration: Measures taken in order to restore environment to its original state before the occurrence of the intervention.

River basin area: area of sea or land, consisted of one or more neighbouring river basins with the related underground and coastal water, which is identified as the main river basin management unit.

River basin: the area where all the run offs are collected through streams, rivers and lakes and it is funneled to the sea by a river outfall, estuary or delta.

Stakeholder: Institute, organization or group of people, which has a special benefit or interest for a specific system or sector.

Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment: The Assessment of Impacts, thay may come up from applying a plan, programme or policy. It comes before the Environmental Impact Assessment for a specific project.

Subsidiarity principle: According to this principle management measures must be taken at the lowest effective level of governance. For example the construction of a dam at Nestos, the management planning refers to the catchment area, at a transboundary level. For the use distribution of the water, the governments of the countries, around the catchment area of the river, must reach a common decision. In the planning and implementation of the management plans, are involved the regions that are neighbouring with the catchment area of the river. However, there must be a central management plan, coming from a European-national legislation (e.g. see Water Framework Directive in the ΕU) and then smaller management plans should be implemented for each catchment area (see Integrated Water Resources Management - IWRM) adjusted to the needs of the various regions, where the leading role will be played by the regional authorities, due to their experience. On the contrary, for the construction of an aqueduct e.g. at Mykonos the lowest level of governance is the Regional Administration Body (e.g. Municipality of Mykonos). In the case, that the lowest level of governance can not implement and reinforce the measures, called by management in accordance with the Solidarity Principle, then a third party comes to take up the environmental tension, or to contribute to the project. In the above mentioned example of Mykonos, if the possibility for water supplying doesn't exist at a particular municipality, a decision must be taken at a wider level of governance (e.g. District or Region of Cyclades) or water supplying from other sources (e.g. another island).

Surface water: the internal water, besides the underground, transition and coastal water, unless it refers their chemical status, and therefore they include and the territorial water.

Sustainable Development: The concept of sustainable development refers to a development model, which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It aims to improve the living standards of people with the conservation of the environment and the natural resources, on short-, medium- and mainly long-term basis.

Transition water: According to the Water Directive, transition water refers to systems of surface water near river outfalls, which partly is salty because it is near coastal water, but are influenced by streams of freshwater.

Underground water: the water that exists under the surface of the earth, (underground), at the saturation zone in direct contact with the soil or subsoil.