International treaties on biological resources: implications for the Asian region

The conservation and sustainable use of biological resources is to meet the demand of both present and future generations and requires a multifaceted approach. In order to strengthen the global and regional cooperation in this area, several legally binding instruments have been developed in the past. The present paper briefly describes them and also highlights some of the major current issues relating to cooperative action for conservation and sustainable use of biological resources among the countries of the Asian region.