The 25th IUBS General Assembly notes that the assembling of documented data on biodiversity is central to our understanding of ecosystems and a major factor in the formulation of future efforts to utilize sustainably the natural resources of this planet and further that our current knowledge is based solely upon materials preserved in biosystematic reference collections. It therefore INSTRUCTS the IUBS Executive to bring to attention of all governments the vital importance of the continuous curalion of biosystematic collections as a component of their biodiversity action plans.