India participates with many international agreements and programmes concerned with aspects of nature conservation and sustainable development. These range from legal instruments such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, which place obligations on those nations which become contracting parties, to scientific programmes such as the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme, a global programme of international scientific cooperation. Examples of agreements and programmes with which India is collaborating include:

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

Since India became a party to CITES on 18th October 1976 it has provided data annually to the CITES secretariat on the trade of endangered species through its CITES Management Authority. The text of the CITIES convention along with the CITIES appendices are provided.

World Heritage Convention

India ratified the World Heritage Convention in 1977 and since then five natural sites have been inscribed as areas of 'outstanding universal value'. These sites are:

• Kaziranga National Park
• Keoladeo National Park
• Manas National Park
• Sunderbans National Park
• Nanda Devi National Park

Convention on Biological Diversity

India signed the Convention on Biological diversity on 5th June 1992, ratified it on 18th February 1994 and brought it into force on 19th May 1994. This convention will provide a framework for the sustainable management and conservation of India's natural resources.

Ramsar (Wetlands) Convention

India has been a contracted party to the Ramsar Convention  since 1st February 1982. India has now six sites covering some 192,973 hectares of important wetlands. These sites are,

• Chilka lake
• Keoladeo National park
• Wular Lake
• Harike Lake
• Lohtak Lake
• Sambhar Lake