Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems that are heavily modified to increase their productivity for human ends now cover a significant part of the land surface of the planet. With a growing human population and economy the extent and intensity of such production areas will continue to increase. Since there are limits to the expansion of such areas of farming, forestry and aquaculture it is vital that existing areas can continue to produce on a sustainable basis in the long term. Such modified ecosystems are also very significant repositories of biodiversity.

Areas that are sustainably managed are understood to include:

(i) natural or semi-natural ecosystems that are sustainably managed by avoiding over-harvesting of products or damage to other components of the ecosystem,
(ii) sustainably managed, plantation forests, agricultural lands, and aquaculture areas.

In both cases, sustainable management should be understood to integrate social and environmental considerations, such as the fair and equitable sharing of benefits and the participation of indigenous and local communities. The Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines for the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity provide the framework for the development of indicators of sustainable use.

Currently the only feasible way of assessing the extent of sustainable management on a large scale is through various certification systems. For agricultural products the two main kinds of certification are for organic or low input production methods and fair trade. The relationship between these systems and impacts on biodiversity are not always clear. It can be assumed that organic or low input methods are more likely to be ecologically sustainable. Fair trade certification should help social sustainability but is not necessarily ecologically sustainable, although some of these systems are starting to incorporate ecological parameters.

A range of forest certification schemes exist throughout the world, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Pan-European Forest Council (PEFC), Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI), Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) and ISO 14001. These schemes are seen as providing assurance to providers of certified products and purchasers of forest products that they are promoting sustainable management as well as conserving biodiversity.

Sustainable use of biodiversity is one of the three objectives of the Convention and is key to achieving the broader goal of sustainable development. Indicators on area under sustainable management particularly complement indicators on products derived from sustainable sources. They can also be interpreted in relation to indicators on trends in extent of biomes, ecosystems, and habitats, and indicators on trends in abundance and distribution of selected species. Sustainable use can also be seen as the opposite of a threat