For over a century, the unique biological resource base "wild and cultivated species and varieties" has been exploited in unsustainable ways through illegal or clandestine bioprospecting and trading activities, and as a result of poverty and inequality. These problems and threats highlight a need for policies, legislation and action on the ground to regulate access to genetic resources, to protect traditional knowledge and practices, and to facilitate the equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources. This is necessary for Namibia and its local communities to reap greater benefits from their biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, innovations, practices and technologies.