Water that percolates downwards until it reaches the groundwater reservoir and then flows to surface streams as groundwater discharge.
Diffuse Pollution
Pollution that arises from land activities spread across large areas that have no specific point of discharge.
Environmental Assessment
The process of estimating and evaluating significant short-term and long-term affects of a programme or project on the quality of the location's environment.
Environmental Impact Assessment
Aims to protect the environment by ensuring that a local planning authority has full knowledge of possible significant environmental effects of a proposed development, and mitigation for these, and takes these into account in the decision-making process.
Environmental Monitoring
Describes the processes and activities that need to take place in order to characterise and monitor the quality of an environment over time.
Habitat
The place where a plant or animal lives.
Habitat Destruction
The process by which natural habitat is damaged to the extent that it is no longer able to support species and communities. This may be through a natural event such as flooding or a volcanic eruption, but is more usually caused by anthropogenic activities such as land drainage or deforestation.
Habitat Fragmentation
The reduction of a large habitat area into smaller, scattered remnants.
Hydrograph
A graph showing how a waterbody reacts after a period of rainfall. The discharge flow is measured past a specific point and over a given time, and this is usually expressed in cubic metres per second.
Initiative
An action implemented in order to achieve the aims of a strategy and policy.
Invasive Non-Native Species
A species introduced through human action outside its native distribution and which has a serious negative impact on native species, our health or our economy.
Keystone Species
A species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that loss of the keystone species would drastically change the ecosystem.
Lag Time
The time it takes for precipitation to find its way from land to a river.
Legislation
Laws passed by the government.
Marine Protected Areas
A formal conservation designation to protect nationally important marine wildlife, habitats, geology, and undersea landforms.
Native Species
One that occurs naturally within a given ecosystem, rather than the result of accidental or deliberate introduction by humans.
Non-Native Species
A species introduced through human action outside its native distribution.
Peak Discharge
The time when a river reaches its highest flow.
Peak Rainfall
The time of highest rainfall.
Plagioclimax
A stable plant community which is maintained by persistent human interference such as burning or grazing.
Point Pollution
Pollution that is discharged from a single location.
Policy
A plan of action that focuses on a specific target.
Pollution
The presence in the environment of substances in quantities that cause harm to the environmental components.
Reforestation
The process of replanting an area with trees. Differs from afforestation, which is the planting of new areas where there was no previous tree cover.
Rewilding
Intentional activities which initiate or accelerate the recovery of a habitat or an ecosystem with respect to its health, integrity, and sustainability.
Runoff
The flow of water over land as surface water.
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
A formal conservation designation for an area which has extremely high conservation value because of its plants, animals, geological, or landscape features.
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
Aims to provide for a high level of protection of the environment from development. It is mandatory for plans and/or programmes which relate to large-scale changes in land use.
Strategy
The methods and principles needed to achieve a policy are set out in strategy.