ABSTRACT
To understand the advantages and disadvantages of the current certification protocols, it is important to understand some of the terminology that has driven its development. These terms commonly discussed in certification have had a strong influence on the approaches and tools used to assess ecosystems. The two most common terms heard in certification are
criteria
and
indicators
. Much time and energy has been placed into explicitly defining criteria and indicators since these are the tools that express the values inherent to assessment protocols. Because these terms are so central to certification, they will be discussed below.
