IUCN SSC Cormorant Specialist Group

More about the Specialist Group

The Group was officially founded in 1993 and has always been aware that cormorants constitute an ecologically important group of species, as predators indicative of the water system they are part of, either freshwater or marine. Due to the continuous discussion about the perceived damage by the Great Cormorant, most attention of our group has been dedicated to this issue. However, rather than focusing on the management issues of this species alone, we feel the necessity to highlight the existence of other, rare and vulnerable species. By comparing the extensive knowledge that has been collected on the Great Cormorant we hope to apply this for a better understanding of the other species and combine the knowledge with other fish-eating birds.