The Convention on Biological Diversity has broader ambitions. It links traditional conservation efforts to the economic goal of using biological resources sustainably. Because it also addresses how to share the benefits from the commercial exploitation of genetic resources, it covers the growing new field of biotechnology. Given this comprehensive scope, the Convention provides a framework for national strategies and programmes rather than a detailed blueprint. Human activities are destroying Earth's biological wealth at an unprecedented rate.
Scientists are still uncertain about regional and global extinction rates.
They are not even sure about how many millions of species actually exist. Nevertheless, there is a strong consensus that the extinction spasm now being caused by human activities is greater than any since the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago. What's more, given humanity's dependence on food crops and other biological resources, it is also dangerous to our species. The Convention aims to reduce this danger. One of the Convention's three goals is the conservation of biodiversity .