Cetaceans in the Mediterranean and Black Seas New report on the status of porpoises, dolphins and whales now available2006/10/20
Concern for the conservation status of cetaceans in the Black and Mediterranean Seas was reflected in the 1991 Action Plan of the Barcelona Convention and in the global action plans for cetacean conservation published by the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Species Survival Commission's Cetacean Specialist Group (CSG) in 1988, 1989, 1994 and 2003. Two populations from the region have already been listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - the Black Sea subspecies of the Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena relicta) as Vulnerable (1996) and the Mediterranean subpopulation of Short-beaked Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis) as Endangered (2003). Scientists working in the region have long recognised the need for additional detailed assessments, expecting that other species and populations would also qualify for threatened status. At the ACCOBAMS Meeting of Parties in 2004 the decision was taken to seek a closer working relationship with IUCN. As a first step towards implementing that decision, ACCOBAMS welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation in Malaga by co-organising and co-sponsoring the Mediterranean/Black Sea Cetacean Red List Workshop that was held at the Ministry of State in Monaco on 5-7 March 2006.The workshop report, compiled and edited by Randall Reeves and Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, is now available. |
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