The Conservation Committee advises the Board of Governors on matters related to the conservation and management of marine mammals and provides the Board of Governors with information that may be requested from time to time.

The Conservation Committee may award the Conservation Merit Prize at the Biennial Conference. The Conservation Merit Prize is public recognition given to a person, team, or organization contributing toward solving a pressing conservation problem for marine mammals, either ongoing or resulting in a conservation success. The Prize may include travel and/or accommodations to the awardee to attend the Biennial Conference.

The Role of the Conservation Committee

1. The Conservation Committee advises the Board of Governors on matters related to the conservation and management of marine mammals and provides the Board of Governors with information that may be requested when needed.
2. The Conservation Committee develops Presidential Letters as a mechanism to provide timely comment on the evidence base for issues related to the conservation and management of marine mammals where the majority of the Society’s membership likely would hold the same opinion.
3. The Conservation Committee decides whether to propose recipients of the Conservation Merit Prize to the Board. The Conservation Committee will select award recipient(s) with the approval of the Board of Governors. Any SMM member may propose recipients. The Prize is only given when the Conservation Committee finds a case of exceptional merit and may not be awarded at every biennial.
4. The Conservation Committee evaluates and/or develops proposals for Expert Conservation Panel Meetings to address critical conservation threats to marine mammals where progress in addressing these threats can be achieved through short, focused meetings with a small number of invited experts. Proposals with a full budget will be submitted to the Board for approval.
5. The Conservation Committee will form Working groups on focus topics relevant to bringing about successful conservation action for an important marine mammal habitat, a species or a species complex.
6. To carry out other duties as assigned by the President.

Standard Operating Procedures

1. The Committee will consist of up to twelve (12, including the chair) voting members at any time, always with an odd number of voting members. All Committee members must be members of the Society.
2. The Chair of the Committee is recommended by the President and approved by the elected officers of the Board of Governors, serves a two-year term with no limit on reappointment.
3. Committee members are recommended to the Board of Governors by the Committee chair and approved by the Board of Governors. Committee membership should be representative of the diversity of the Society membership and should comprise experts working on the various direct and indirect threats faced by marine mammals and /or are managers/policy developers/social scientists working on human dimensions of marine mammal conservation.
4. The Chair will review voting member participation every year, communicate with members who have not sufficiently participated and determine whether replacements are warranted.
5. The Chair may invite other Society members or individuals outside the Society to temporarily advise the Committee on specific issues within their field of expertise by forming Working Groups.
6. Working group members are not voting members and will be communicating with the Chair and the Conservation committee on specific tasks.
7. Communications between Committee members will primarily be by e-mail.
8. The Chair will retain copies of email or postal communications among Committee members regarding matters relating to committee business and pass to the Secretary for inclusion in the Society’s archives upon completion of the Chair’s term.

Duties and Responsibilities of a Conservation Committee Member
Members must be active participants in discussions, responses to member’s queries and requests, and in resolutions of all items that come before the Committee.