IUCN Policy Statement on SustainableUse of Wild Living Resources

6. Analyses of uses of wild living resources in a number of different contexts demonstrate that there are many biological, social, cultural, and economic factors,
which combine in a variety of configurations to affect the likelihood that a particular use may be sustainable.

7. On the basis of these analyses, IUCN concludes that:

a) Use of wild living resources, if sustainable, is an important conservation tool because the social and economic benefits derived from such use provide incentives for people to conserve them;

b) When using wild living resources, people should seek to minimize losses of biological diversity;

c) Enhancing the sustainability of uses of wild living resources involves an ongoing process of improved management of those resources; and

d) Such management should be adaptive, incorporating monitoring and the ability to modify management to take account of risk and uncertainty.