A leading taxonomist from one of India’s premier biodiversity research institutes recently wrote a post on Facebook: “We had multiple interface meets with NBA [National Biodiversity Authority (http://nbaindia.org/) of India, that regulates all access to biodiversity of the country] to break the ice … Though after multiple rejections for few years, we could convince them … It took almost three years for getting approvals and we all faced initial refusals …” As in India, biodiversity researchers in several other countries, are a shackled lot. Any international collaboration involving exchange of specimens is viewed by the authorities as the vehicle of ‘biopiracy’ and is strictly regulated. The Convention on Biological Diversity (https://www.cbd.int/doc/legal/cbd-en.pdf) (CBD) and the resultant national legislations focus on the commercial value of biodiversity than its ecological and scientific value.