Biodiversity-related legal resources

Effective international and domestic laws and policies are a cornerstone to biodiversity conservation, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The CBD Secretariat has partnered with ECOLEX to provide readily accessible information on biodiversity-related laws and policies.

ECOLEX, the Gateway to Environmental Law, is a web-based information service operated jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the UN Environmental Program (UNEP). ECOLEX is the most comprehensive global source of national and international environmental and natural resources law and policy.

Accessing biodiversity-related legal information via ECOLEX

The ECOLEX user can access legal and policy instruments - international agreements, legislation, judicial decisions, law and policy literature - relating to ecosystems, species and genetic resources as well as other sectors affecting biodiversity such as agriculture, fisheries, forestry, mining and water.

ECOLEX’s four databases can be browsed in two main ways, Simple Searches and Advanced Searches. For help on searching please see Tips for Simple and Advanced Searches.