The Cycad Specialist Group (CSG) is a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC). It consists of a group of volunteer experts addressing conservation issues related to cycads, a highly threatened group of land plants.
The CSG exists to bring together the world’s cycad conservation expertise, and to disseminate this expertise to organizations and agencies which can use this guidance to advance cycad conservation. The CSG published a status survey and conservation action plan for cycads in 2003.
The primary objectives of the CSG include: coordinating extinction risk assessments for cycads for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, maintaining an up to date consensus taxonomy for this group (The World List of Cycads), developing a network of established genebanks for ex situ cycad conservation, promoting sustainable practices in trade and utilization of cycads, and advancing our understanding of this highly threatened plant group.