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

Dilys Roe; Anastasiya Timoshyna; Patrick Aust; James Compton; Osman Dar; John Donaldson; Nigel Dudley; Tiggy Grillo; Christina Hiller; Rachel Hoffmann; John-Mark Kilian; Christine Lippai; Nik Long; James Macgregor; Simon Marsh; Daniel Natusch; Mohammad Khalid Sayeed Pasha; Andrew Taylor; Francis Vorhies; Olivia Wilson-Holt

doi:10.1371/journal.pstr.0000196

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

Dilys Roe, Anastasiya Timoshyna, Patrick Aust, James Compton, Osman Dar, John Donaldson, Nigel Dudley, Tiggy Grillo, Christina Hiller, Rachel Hoffmann, John-Mark Kilian, Christine Lippai, Nik Long, James Macgregor, Simon Marsh, Daniel Natusch, Mohammad Khalid Sayeed Pasha, Andrew Taylor, Francis Vorhies, Olivia Wilson-Holt

School of Natural Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/opinion

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.

Original language	English
Article number	e0000196
Pages (from-to)	1-5
Number of pages	5
Journal	PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
Volume	4
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000196
Publication status	Published - 25 Sept 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2025. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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Roe, D., Timoshyna, A., Aust, P., Compton, J., Dar, O., Donaldson, J., Dudley, N., Grillo, T., Hiller, C., Hoffmann, R., Kilian, J.-M., Lippai, C., Long, N., Macgregor, J., Marsh, S., Natusch, D., Pasha, M. K. S., Taylor, A., Vorhies, F., & Wilson-Holt, O. (2025). Fifty shades of sustainability? a new five-dimensional framework for assessing sustainability of wild species use. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, 4(9), 1-5. Article e0000196. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000196

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title = "Fifty shades of sustainability?: a new five-dimensional framework for assessing sustainability of wild species use",

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.",

author = "Dilys Roe and Anastasiya Timoshyna and Patrick Aust and James Compton and Osman Dar and John Donaldson and Nigel Dudley and Tiggy Grillo and Christina Hiller and Rachel Hoffmann and John-Mark Kilian and Christine Lippai and Nik Long and James Macgregor and Simon Marsh and Daniel Natusch and Pasha, \{Mohammad Khalid Sayeed\} and Andrew Taylor and Francis Vorhies and Olivia Wilson-Holt",

note = "Copyright the Author(s) 2025. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.",

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Roe, D, Timoshyna, A, Aust, P, Compton, J, Dar, O, Donaldson, J, Dudley, N, Grillo, T, Hiller, C, Hoffmann, R, Kilian, J-M, Lippai, C, Long, N, Macgregor, J, Marsh, S, Natusch, D, Pasha, MKS, Taylor, A, Vorhies, F & Wilson-Holt, O 2025, 'Fifty shades of sustainability? a new five-dimensional framework for assessing sustainability of wild species use', PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, vol. 4, no. 9, e0000196, pp. 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000196

TY - JOUR

T1 - Fifty shades of sustainability?

T2 - a new five-dimensional framework for assessing sustainability of wild species use

AU - Roe, Dilys

AU - Timoshyna, Anastasiya

AU - Aust, Patrick

AU - Compton, James

AU - Dar, Osman

AU - Donaldson, John

AU - Dudley, Nigel

AU - Grillo, Tiggy

AU - Hiller, Christina

AU - Hoffmann, Rachel

AU - Kilian, John-Mark

AU - Lippai, Christine

AU - Long, Nik

AU - Macgregor, James

AU - Marsh, Simon

AU - Natusch, Daniel

AU - Pasha, Mohammad Khalid Sayeed

AU - Taylor, Andrew

AU - Vorhies, Francis

AU - Wilson-Holt, Olivia

N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2025. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

PY - 2025/9/25

Y1 - 2025/9/25

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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DO - 10.1371/journal.pstr.0000196

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SN - 2767-3197

VL - 4

SP - 1

EP - 5

JO - PLOS Sustainability and Transformation

JF - PLOS Sustainability and Transformation

IS - 9

M1 - e0000196

ER -

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

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