The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and Sustainable Use: A Timeline 1980:

The concept of sustainable use was first articulated in the World Conservation Strategy, whichrecognised that most human use of renewable natural resources is not sustainable. The Strategy identifies "sustainable utilisation of species and ecosystems" as one of its three main objectives.

1990: At IUCN's General Assembly in Perth, Australia, Recommendation 18.24: Conservation of Wildlife through Wise Use as a Renewable Natural Resource was adopted unanimously by members, who called on the IUCN Director General and Species Survival Commission (SSC) Chair to prepare guidelines for sustainable use.

1992: Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living is published containing a more realistic definition of sustainable use: "Use of an organism, ecosystem or other renewable resource at a rate within its capacity for renewal".

1994: Guidelines for the ecological sustainability of theuse of wild species are prepared by SSC's Specialist Group on Sustainable Use of Wild Species for the 1994 General Assembly in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The guidelines are not adopted, instead members adopt Recommendation 19.54: Sustainability of Non-consumptive and Consumptive Uses of Wild Species, calling on the IUCN Director General and SSC Chair to test the guidelines and to provide a revised text at the next General Assembly. The IUCN Director General and SSC Chair convene a task force to advise them on how the Union should address the concept of sustainable use.

The task force concludes that IUCN's goals in relation to sustainable use are:

• To distinguish uses that are ecologically and socially beneficial from uses that are ecologically and socially harmful
• To assist IUCN's members and others to support and augment conditions that contribute to uses that optimize benefits to both ecosystems and people ...

... and recommends that IUCN's role should be:

• To improve understanding of the human and ecological factors that contribute to the sustainability of uses of wild species and ecosystems
• To promote that understanding to IUCN members, decision-makers and others
• To assist in the application of that understanding.

The IUCN Director General and SSC Chair appoint a Sustainable Use Advisory Group (SUAG).

1995: SUAG launches the IUCN Sustainable Use Initiative (SUI) implemented through regional Specialist Networks aka Regional Sustainable Use Specialist Groups (RSUSGs) and SUAG. SUI is launched with funding from the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

1996: TheFirst Pan African Symposium on the sustainable use of natural resources is held in Harare, June 24-27, 1996. 14 RSUSGs are established by year-end 1996.

1998: Enhancing Sustainability: Resources for Our Future, Volume 1 in theSUI Technical Series, is published. A workshop on Tenure and Sustainable Use is organised under auspices of European SUSG at the Global Biodiversity Forum preceding the Fourth CoP of the CBD (Bratislava). A workshop on Tenure and Sustainable Use is convened by Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM) at the University of Oslo, in collaboration with the SUI. IUCN/Ford Foundation Sustainable Use Policy Fellowship Programme started.

1999: An SUI/SUSG web site is launched. Tenure and Sustainable Use, Volume 2 in theSUI Technical Series, is published. The Decision-makers Guide to Sustainable Use is prepared. Principles of Sustainable Use within the Ecosystem Approach is submitted as an information paper to theConvention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological (SBSTTA) 5.

2000: The IUCN/Ford Foundation Democratising Science Small Grants Programme is launched to support dissemination of sustainability science from developing countries. An international workshop on Sustainable Use and Natural Resources is convened in As, Norway, March 2000 with NORAGRIC -- Agricultural University of Norway. A "Lessons Learned" publication is later released. The 2nd Pan-African Symposium on the Use of Natural Resource in Africa held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. At the second World Conservation Congress, Amman, Jordan, a workshop titled Ecospaces and a Global Culture of Sustainability is held. The IUCN Policy Statement on Sustainable Use of Wild Living Resources is adopted by members.

2001: The staff component of SUI is absorbed into new IUCN Socio-Economics Programme. A workshop is held on Tools to Assess Sustainability of Uses of Wild Natural Resources. The workshop aims to explore practicalities of assessment and proposes a set of general principles of sustainable use that could be tested in subsequent assessments. An African Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Use is held in Gaborone, Botswana that examines role of equity and governance in fostering sustainability. The Analytic Framework for Assessing Factors that Influence Sustainability of Uses of Wild Living Natural Resources is released to favourable reviews. Lessons Learned: Case Studies in Sustainable Use is published.

2002: The IUCN Socio-economics Programme is disbanded. A Sustainable Use Team emerges as a distinct unit. SUSG (now comprising 17 RSUSGs) adopts a Programme Framework which focuses on the relationship between sustainable use of biological systems and human livelihoods.

Visit the IUCN Sustainable Use Web site for more information on IUCN's sustainable use activities.