The term ‘habitat’ refers to an inseparable complex comprising: - fauna, including species that carry out all or part of their various life activities within the area in question; - vegetation (herbaceous, shrubby and arboreal); - a site-specific environment (climatic conditions, soils and parent material, and their physico-chemical properties). A habitat is not limited to vegetation alone. However, due to its integrative nature (synthesising the environmental conditions and functioning of the system), vegetation is considered a good indicator and helps to define the habitat. (source: Rameau et al., 1998).
Environment defined by specific abiotic and biotic factors in which a species lives at any stage of its life cycle. A natural habitat is distinguished by geographic, abiotic and biotic entirely natural or semi-natural.