The national legislations alone are not efficient enough for preserving and managing biological diversity, especially in cases concerning resources outside the sovereign borders of the states e.g. open sea and ocean areas, sea bottom, and Antarctica. Plant and animal species are unaware of the state borders and their populations, with small exceptions, are shared between several countries.

Large part of the global biodiversity is concentrated in the developing countries which usually are not able to provide the resources necessary for preserving and managing this diversity. It is therefore recommended that the states, which possess the necessary funds and which are in most of the cases the main consumers of resources, share the benefits which they derive from biodiversity.

A step towards solving these problems is provided by the conventions and other international treaties. In spite of the lack of coordination, omissions and overlaps that appear in the course of their drafting and implementation, they are one of the most powerful means for biodiversity conservation and management.