The CSG is the official IUCN Red List Authority responsible for conducting Red List assessments for cetacean species. The CSG works closely with the IUCN Red List Programme to assess, evaluate, and determine the appropriate extinction risk category for each species. The CSG attempts to update all species assessments at least once every ten years, and more frequently for species assessed in a threatened category. Members of the CSG with expertise on a particular species are recruited to draft the Red List assessments, and these are reviewed by members of the CSG Red List Authority before being submitted to IUCN for checking and publication.
Subspecies and Subpopulation Red List Assessments
Most cetacean species have very large distributions with multiple subpopulations that are demographically independent, and hence, could face different levels of threat and would be assigned to different listing categories. The global species distributions often span multiple countries with many stakeholders, which makes conservation planning at the species level difficult if not impossible. Therefore, most effective conservation planning and action for most cetaceans is at the subpopulation level. Red List assessments have the power to stimulate needed conservation attention and it is therefore beneficial to conduct assessments of a larger number of subspecies and subpopulations than are currently listed. However, as Red List assessments are undertaken on a volunteer basis by a small group of qualified and trained individuals, it is not feasible, or useful for conservation, to assess all subpopulations and subspecies.
