Tuvalu National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2012-2016 (NBSAP)
Tuvalu was among the first to sign the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the 1992 Rio de Janeiro United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). It ratified the CBD in 2002 and eight years later, the Tuvalu National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (TNBSAP) is now in place. Although it is among the last Pacific Island countries to formulate its TNBSAP, biodiversity was already part and parcel of Tuvalu s development framework, at least on an ad hoc basis. As discussed later in the main body of the report, conservation and the sustainable use and management of natural resources were integral elements of Tuvalu s culture and traditional lifestyles.