Sustainable utilization of biodiversity, its conservation as well as those of associated knowledge systems is an urgent priority of action for the biodiversity-rich South Asian nations that are home to about 1/5th of the vascular plants of the world.

• Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) is a legally binding international treaty established in 1992, motivated by the recognition of the importance of conserving our natural biodiversity towards supporting human life. Developing national strategies for the conservation and sustainable utilization of biodiversity is its prime objective. This treaty was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and entered into force in 1993.
• Other key objectives of CBD are ensuring conservation of biodiversity through sustainable utilization of its components and implementation of fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from its use.
• These CBD objectives are ratified by 175 countries and concepts of sovereignty of states over their genetic resources, their obligation to facilitate access are within its framework. It also covers issues pertaining to measures and incentives for conservation and sustainable utilization of biodiversity.
• The United Nations Organization (UNO) has declared 2011–2020 as the decade of biodiversity. Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) is a programme under CBD—a 16-point plan aimed at slowing plant extinction rate around the world by 2010.