Mammalian order Cetacea
CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH ACIVITIES
The Order Cetacea is listed on Appendix II of the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates and monitors trade in these species and their related products. At present 130 nations are a party to CITES. However, some species are excluded from Appendix II and are listed separately under Appendix I, as the threat to their survival from trade is greater than that of other cetacean species. Appendix I strictly regulates trade in the species or its products, and bans trade for commercial purposes. All the large species of whales and both the Indus and Ganges River Dolphins are listed on Appendix I.
The only international organization with the authority to regulate whaling is the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which was established in 1946 under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW). The IWC comprises a body of 40 governments representing some 85% of the world's population including the two remaining whaling countries (Norway and Japan), many former whaling countries, and some that have never whaled.
Many countries have declared their territorial waters as 'whale sanctuaries' which effectively means that all acts that threaten the survival of cetaceans species are banned. For example, Ecuador (including the Galapagos Islands), and most recently Ireland, have declared cetacean species occurring within their waters as protected. In addition, the IWC has designated the whole of the Indian Ocean and most of the Southern Ocean, whale sanctuaries.
In 1994, the IUCN/Species Survival Commission (SSC) Cetacean Specialist Group published the 1994-1998 Action Plan for the Conservation of Cetaceans which identified 51 conservation projects that were required to prevent the extinction or local extinction of cetacean species. Focusing primarily on the river dolphins (thought to be the most threatened cetacean species), the plan has prompted and initiated various conservation measures which are crucial to the cetaceans' continued existence.
Both the IUCN Red Data Book Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the World and the IUCN/SSC Cetacean Specialist Group 1994-1988 Action Plan for the Conservation of Cetaceans provide species accounts and discussion on all aspects of cetacean conservation.
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