Glossary

All of the different types of life in the environment. Biodiversity includes plants, animals, and micro-organisms (really small things like bacteria and fungi).

Online community groups where neighbours share things they don’t need anymore with each other.

When plants remove carbon from the air and store it in their leaves, stems, trunks, and roots. This process helps to reduce climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

An area of land where rain falls and then flows into rivers, lakes and wetlands.

The usual weather that happens in an area over a long time, usually many years. Climate change is when this usual weather changes.

For Aboriginal people, the word Country describes the lands, waterways and seas that they are connected to. The word also relates to the cultural stories, beliefs and practices that connect Aboriginal people with the land.

Dreamings represent the time when Ancestral Spirits moved through the land, creating life and important places. Dreamings are passed down and shared by many Aboriginal communities across Australia.

A collection of interacting living and non-living things. A forest ecosystem consists of the trees, grasses, soil, rocks, animals and insects in a forest, and how each of these things interacts.

When soil is carried away by water or wind. Soil erosion can reduce biodiversity, harm rivers when soil is washed into waterways, and create dust storms.

When an entire species of plant or animal dies out. Once a species becomes extinct, it is gone forever. A species can also be locally extinct, meaning that it has disappeared from an area it once lived in, but still exists elsewhere.

Water in rivers, lakes, wetlands, and underground that is not salty.

A gas in the atmosphere (such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) that absorbs and emits energy, warming the Earth. Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause of climate change.

The natural home or environment of a plant or animal.

Plants and animals that are not native to Australia. These are also known as introduced species.

A place where rubbish is buried in the ground in large amounts.

Animals and plants that live in, and are originally from, an area. The area could be large, like Australia, or it could be small, like a specific national park.

How nutrients (such as nitrogen) move between plants, animals and bacteria, as well as between soil, water and air.

Elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Too many nutrients in water can cause large amounts of algae to grow, harming other plants and animals.

Harmful substances that can damage the environment. Water pollutants include chemicals, fertilisers, bacteria, viruses, animal or human waste, and too many nutrients.

How clean the water is in areas used for recreation (activities like swimming, canoeing and fishing). Recreational water quality is good when there are low levels of bacteria and blue-green algae, which can make people sick.

Energy produced from natural sources that never run out. Examples include solar, wind, and hydro power from dams.

Plants that grow along the edges of creeks, rivers, lakes and wetlands.

Particles of dirt, rocks, and dead plant or animal matter. Too much sediment in water can harm plants and animals.

Songlines are like pathways of knowledge that crisscross the land, sky and water. Songlines connect important stories and places across Australia, and help Aboriginal people to navigate.

Areas of land that have been built on to create a city or town.

How clean the water is in rivers, lakes and wetlands. Good water quality has low levels of pollutants.

The sun, rain, or wind that you experience every day.

Areas of land that are waterlogged (wet) or covered with shallow water. Wetlands can be seasonal, only existing for short periods of time, or they can be permanent.