**1. Introduction**

The United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) took place in October 2021 and May 2022 in Kunming, Yunnan, China. As a signatory to both the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol, China has been compelled to create national law that meets the criteria of international conventions. China, on the other hand, continues to lack concrete legislative measures and implementation guidelines for the conservation of biological species resources and traditional knowledge, either at the national or local level [1]. The Convention on Biological Diversity provides a framework for the conservation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge. However, because China lacks a

clear conservation policy, an effective legal and institutional system has not yet been established [2]. At the same time, due to the special property of traditional knowledge, it is difficult to protect it under the current intellectual property system [3]. Also, in the international arena, in regard to traditional national societies, there is an urgent need to establish special legal systems in the fields of genes, biological resources, and traditional knowledge to protect their rights, as well as the local traditional way of life and culture [4]. Therefore, all parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, especially the resource-providing countries, have proposed that domestic laws and regulations should be formulated under the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which is conducive to the conservation of biological diversity, biological genetic resources, and their traditional knowledge [5].

A common feature of current global biodiversity hotspots is that they are often rich in cultural diversity. As UNESCO states in the Convention on the Conservation and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, "Cultural diversity is a fundamental characteristic and a mutual heritage of all human beings, cultural diversity contributes to the creation of a colorful world" [6]. Clearly, biodiversity is the bedrock and critical component of this vibrant world, the conservation of biodiversity from cultural diversity is the guarantee for the continuous existence and development of this colorful world. Traditional laws and institutions can aid traditional ethnic societies in preserving the ecological environment, adapting to climate change, and utilizing natural resources, while also sustaining significant cultural values [7]. The value and function of traditional law and system on ecological resources should be recognized, cited, and utilized by modern national legal system; moreover, the mutual relationship between traditional legal culture and Western legal culture should be further discussed and finally brought into modern national legal system [8]. In China, traditional ecological culture, concepts, and local knowledge play an important role and significance in protecting the ecological environment and biodiversity in ethnic minority areas [9]. In particular, traditional knowledge associated with biodiversity is of great significance for the conservation and utilization of genetic resources and the realization of acquisition and the system for access and benefit sharing (ABS) [10]. In ethnic areas, a co-management mechanism of environmental governance can be formed based on ethnic customary laws such as township regulations and civil conventions on environmental conservation [11], maximize the positive impact of customary law on the ecological environment, and integrate it into the rule of law of ecological governance in ethnic minority areas and national laws [12]. Nowadays, China's environmental conservation laws are not perfect, especially with the imperfect of local environmental conservation laws and environmental conservation measures, the effective environmental conservation experience in the minority customary law can be used to make up and correct the loopholes and deficiencies of the current environmental conservation laws and environmental conservation measures [13]. Different ethnic groups living in biodiversity hot spots have produced traditional ecological customary laws associated with biodiversity in the process of long-term interaction with local ecosystems and the natural environment. It also promotes the conservation of biodiversity and can further play an essential role in the conservation of biological species' resources and their traditional knowledge [14].

Indigenous peoples and local communities possess rich biodiversity species resources, each ethnic minority has created a wealth of traditional knowledge for the conservation and utilization of biological species resources. Biological species resources and their associated traditional knowledge not only have great commercial

### *Traditional Ecological Customary Law for Conservation and Sustainability in Biodiversity DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105918*

and economic value, but also are of great significance to the sustainable life of indigenous peoples and local communities and of important cultural resources. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the rule of law for the conservation of biological species resources and improve the system of biosafety laws and regulations at the international and national levels. Involving the traditional ecological culture and customary law in the comprehensive management of biosafety risks. Ensure the biological species resources are legally protected, prevent the loss of biological species resources, promote the conservation and utilization of biological diversity, and safeguard the ecological rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.
