SULi’s primary goals are to build knowledge and understanding on sustainable use and how to achieve it, raise awareness of sustainable use issues, and boost community voice.
Our Work
“In many cases, if not most, sustainable use is one of the strongest assurances for the protection of biological resources”
Evidence and assessment
We are building an evidence base and assessment framework for sustainable use, enhancing the measurement and evaluation tools available around the globe. In 2023, we launched the Species Use Database (SpUD) which provides high quality information on the use of wild species, at the local, national and international level, and the recorded ecological, social and economic impacts of that use.
We also working on a multi-dimensional assessment framework that determines whether use of wild species is both sustainable and safe.
Our SULi Digest contains the latest popular and scientific articles on sustainable use to build a community of knowledge and practice.
Community involvement
Since 2014 SULi has been working to highlight the critical role of communities in tackling illegal wildlife trade. Our main initiatives include the People Not Poaching database, The Beyond Enforcement Initiative and The First Line of Defence Initiative.
From 2016, SULi has been working with partners to enhance community voices in international conservation decision-making. We have various ‘Community Voices’ reports from international events that we have organised or been active in, which can be accessed in our resources page.
Wildlife management
SULi represents the IUCN as a member of the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management. The group met in Rome in September 2023 to finalise a work plan launched at a CBD SBSTTA side event in October 2023.
Our connection to Conservation Visions of North America allows us to support the Wild Harvest Initiative, an exciting project that is the first serious effort to synthesise and evaluate the total economic, conservation and social benefits of recreational wild animal harvests in the US and Canada.
We are also working with Oxford University to undertake a situation analysis on the contribution of hunting to wildlife conservation and management. The analysis will seek to explore and understand the current state of knowledge that hunting plays in national and sub-national wildlife management regimes.
