CABS was founded in 1998 and is a part of the US non-governmental organisation Conservation International. It brings together leading experts in science and technology, and conducts research that supports the mission of its parent organisation, namely to identify and respond to elements that threaten the earth's biological diversity. CABS recently launched its Tropical Ecology, Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) initiative, which aims to monitor long-term trends in biodiversity through a growing network of tropical field stations.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research is an association of public and private members supporting a system of 16 Future Harvest centres that work in more than 100 countries to mobilise cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. As well as taking a keen interest in agricultural biotechnology, much of CGIAR's research has direct relevance to biodiversity. CGIAR also coordinates a global network of genebanks that aims to keep the bulk of the world's plant genetic resources in the public domain.

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility is an international, government-funded initiative focused on providing free and open access to biodiversity data online for scientific research, conservation and sustainable development.

The website provides an Internet-based index of primary biodiversity data, such as museum specimens and field observations of plants and animals in nature; community-developed tools for formatting and sharing data; and capacity building through training, including access to international experts and mentoring programmes. The website links to relevant reports and news, and publishes information in different languages including English, Chinese and Korean.