At the end of June, a group of IWC Scientific Committee members will gather in Brazil for a workshop to discuss all six of the Conservation Management Plans focused on populations off the coasts of South America.

Conservation Management Plans (CMPs) provide a flexible framework for countries within the range of a specific, vulnerable species or population to work together.  Designed to support existing national or local conservation initiatives and address transboundary gaps, CMPs draw on the best available science and management expertise from the international community, and can be tailored to meet individual circumstances.

The latest workshop will be held in Santos, Brazil and the six CMPs to be assessed are:

• Southwest Atlantic right whale
• Southeast Pacific right whale
• South American river dolphin
• Guiana dolphin
• Lahille’s bottlenose dolphin
• Franciscana dolphin

Regular reporting and review are integral components of every CMP and each session will begin with a progress report and assessment of new information. Thereafter, the format will be dictated by the work to-date. Whilst the two plans for different populations of southern right whale were endorsed by the Commission in 2012 and have already undertaken a wide range of research and capacity building activities, the most recent plans for Guiana and Lahille's dolphins were proposed as recently as 2024 and will be reviewed for the first time at the Santos workshop.  Common components of the majority of CMPs include research into the size, structure and health of the population, analysis of threats such as bycatch in fishing gear, and wider habitat or environmental concerns.  

A report will be produced for each CMP and discussed at the next meeting of the IWC Scientific Committee in 2026.
The Santos workshop takes place 30 June - 5 July 2025 and you can read the agenda here.