A strategic management framework to establish different standards for conservation depending on their level of abstraction is proposed. According to a model developed by one of the authors, the problems that decision-makers must solve vary depending on the system level at which they are considered. As a consequence, the measures by which the effectiveness of these decisions are evaluated must also take into account the system level at which the problem is stated. The model and metamodel on which the framework is based are presented. The model is generalized to encompass the overall paradigm of the discipline of conservation and, as a result, becomes a prescriptive model by which all standards of the discipline should be set.