The overall objective of the Institute is to undertake conservation and promote the development and sustainable utilization of the country’s biological resources.

The Institute has overall ten technical Departments: five departments for plant genetic resources conservation: Forest and Aquatic Plants, Medicinal Plants, Horticultural Plants, Field crops, and Pasture and Forage plant genetic resources Departments; and five other departments: Animal Genetic Resources, Microbial Genetic Resources, Ecosystem Conservation, Biotechnology and Bio-safety, and Ethno biology departments.

Based on the priority objectives, IBC will continue to develop scientific strategies for all the relevant biological resources conservation and sustainable utilization. International standards will be adopted and special efforts will be made to tackle the enormous qualitative and quantitative dimensions of conservation problems unique to Ethiopia. In addition to seed storage, the Institute will make a major effort to increase in situ conservation in relevant ecosystems.

A major component of these plans will be the conservation of species where many of the wild and weedy relatives of cultivated crops species will exist. On site conservation of indigenous and local animal species, both domestic and wild, will be enhanced. New and appropriate conservation techniques and methodologies will be adopted for aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity. The rich indigenous knowledge associated with biodiversity will be studied and used for biodiversity conservation and promoting sustainable utilization.