Beginning with the ecological, economic, social and legal facets of biodiversity issues and challenges facing the Himalayan region, the book discusses the Convention on Biological Diversity and subsequent developments. A pioneering work on the protection of the Himalayan biodiversity, it uses tools upheld by international environmental law and examines exhaustively the possibility of evolving regional partnerships for the protection of the Himalayas.

The debate between the technology-rich First World and the bio-rich Third World is studied in detail, with a focus on issues of access and benefit-sharing. The book also examines the gaps in existing and evolving national laws and policies on the protection of biodiversity, and in doing so, envisages a framework of regional laws on the subject.