Fifty shades of sustainability? a new five-dimensional framework for assessing sustainability of wild species use

Roe, Dilys, Timoshyna, Anastasiya, Aust, Patrick, Compton, James, Dar, Osman, Donaldson, John, Dudley, Nigel, Grillo, Tiggy, Hiller, Christina, Hoffmann, Rachel, and others. (2025) Fifty shades of sustainability? a new five-dimensional framework for assessing sustainability of wild species use. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, 4 (9). Article Number e0000196. E-ISSN 2767-3197. (doi:10.1371/journal.pstr.0000196) (KAR id:111429)

PDF Publisher pdf Language: English This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Download this file (PDF/859kB)	Preview
Request a format suitable for use with assistive technology e.g. a screenreader
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000196

Abstract

A novel framework for assessing the sustainability of wild species use is presented to address weaknesses in current formulations and support global and national policies relating to sustainable use. The novelty of the framework is its addition of animal health and welfare and human health to the conventional ecological, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. The five-dimensional sustainability assessment framework (5DSAF) consists of 42 principles, which have been derived from an analysis and synthesis of existing international, national, sectoral and species-specific guidelines and standards. It can be applied by use of an Excel-based tool that allows scores to be allocated to each principle with results graphically displayed in the form of a radar chart. The 5DSAF has been successfully piloted as a self-assessment tool at industry and enterprise level and has the potential to evolve into a universal standard that government, private sector, and civil society actors could use to assess the sustainability, legality, and safety of all value chains for wild species and products.

Item Type:	Article
DOI/Identification number:	10.1371/journal.pstr.0000196
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH75 Conservation (Biology)
Institutional Unit:	Institutes > Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology
Former Institutional Unit:	There are no former institutional units.
Funders:	Darwin Initiative (https://ror.org/024hyk965)
Depositing User:	Tina Hiller
Date Deposited:	29 Sep 2025 08:39 UTC
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2025 02:44 UTC
Resource URI:	https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/111429 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Hiller, Christina.

Creator's ORCID:	https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6730-4613
CReDIT Contributor Roles:	Investigation, Writing - review and editing

Depositors only (login required):

Altmetric

Total Views

Total unique views of this page since July 2020. For more details click on the image.