New Guidelines on Harvesting Threatened Species: Balancing conservation and sustainable use

The new IUCN Guidelines on Harvesting Threatened Species advise decision-makers on whether, how and what to harvest to ensure the sustainable use of threatened animal, plant and fungal species. Drawing on insights from the IPBES Sustainable Use Assessment, they complement and expand on existing guidance and tools, such as the Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of IUCN Red List Data in Harvesting of Threatened Species and recent CITES guidance on the conduct of Non-Detriment Findings. 

Overexploitation of wild species is one of the key drivers of biodiversity loss, posing a threat to 27% of threatened species. Overfishing, for instance, affects all threatened species of sharks, rays and chimaeras, while the unscrupulous collection of live plants and seeds for the horticultural trade and private collections is one of the key drivers of the extinction risk of cacti. At the same time, the sustainable use of species can provide an invaluable incentive for conservation as well as being a force for economic development: 40% of the global economy is based directly or indirectly on the use of biological resources, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. Managing the harvesting of wild species is thus a complex balancing act, which must consider both conservation concerns and the demand for products and services on which people depend. 

While the harvesting of all species through hunting, fishing, logging and gathering requires careful management, threatened species demand particular attention because of their heightened risk of extinction. Threatened species are understood as those falling into the categories of Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species^TM.

Although the idea of harvesting wild species may sound counterintuitive to many, some threatened species, even those in the highest category of threat, have been shown to be capable of supporting a carefully regulated sustainable harvest that both benefits conservation and provides financial or other incentives for local communities and conservation management. That is the case of the yellow-spotted river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis), whose adults and eggs are harvested for food in the Amazon and Orinoco River basins of South America. Since a sustainable ranching programme involving local villagers in Peru was established in 2010, turtle nest counts have shown a steady population increase, helping to restore wild turtle populations. 

The SSC SULi advises great caution, however, whenever harvested species are listed as threatened on the basis of their small populations. For Vulnerable or Endangered species, harvest should only take place against evidence showing it is highly unlikely to increase extinction risk, or likely to decrease it. For Critically Endangered species, it should only be permitted in exceptional circumstances, requiring sufficient evidence of benefits to conservation at a very low risk to the population. In most cases, harvest decisions are highly context-specific, and the level of threat posed by harvesting should be calculated at a local level rather than a global level.

The SSC SULi guidelines offer fresh insights into the main factors to be considered when deciding on the harvest of threatened species, including novel aspects such as human and animal health and welfare considerations. This new resource will support policy-makers and practitioners to think through some of the issues associated with harvesting threatened species in a systematic way, improving the robustness of decision-making around this sensitive topic.

Access the publication here.