India's biodiversity legislation was enacted in 2002 as the Biological Diversity Act. This laws aims at governing the conservation, sustainable use of and access to biological resources. Towards this end, the Act enables the setting up of new institutions and puts into force rules and agreements. This Dossier aims to put together scattered information available on the Act, related rules and agreements, so that the information is easily accessible. This publication is part of the Biodiversity Information Pack which includes three components. The other titles are: 'A guide to the Biological Diversity Act 2002' and 'A Simple Guide to Intellectual Property Rights, Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge.