摘要
Past conservation policies have often foundered due to conflict between thoseseeking to defend resources and those excluded from their usage. The conceptof sustainability was introduced in the 1980s with a world conservation strategy arguing that natural biological populations produce a surplus which can be harvested in a sustainable manner. This policy moved considerably in the 1990s with the recognition that most uses are detrimental and a sustainable harvest is difficult to calculate or achieve. Apart from problems in the determination of environmental and biological factors governing sustainability, it was also recognized that social and economic forces play a major role. Thus, the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 was founded upon conservation, sustainable use and an equitable sharing of the benefits from resources.Integrated Marine and Coastal Area Management (IMCAM) also known as Integrated Costal Zone Management has been suggested to be the most suitable strategy to manage human impacts on marine and coastal biodiversity and to promote conservation and sustainable use of biological resources. IMCAM involves all users or stakeholders including decision makers in the public and private sectors, resource owners, managers, users, non governmental organizations and the general public. The use of this approach to conservation is described by reference to the recent UNOPS/GEF/UNDP- sponsored marine zoning plan for the conservation and sustainable use of the biodiversity and natural resources of the Socotra Archipelago, Yemen.