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Audubon Important Bird Areas

The Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program was initiated in Europe in 1989 by BirdLife International, a global coalition of more than 100 non-governmental organizations committed to bird conservation. The collaborative effort is motivated by the growing concern that the world’s birds are seriously threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. In the United States, the National Audubon Society is the partner-designate for BirdLife International.

The IBA Program’s principal goal is to attain better management of sites that are especially important to the conservation of the planet’s bird life. Guided by scientists with ornithological expertise and focused by rigorous criteria, key landscapes harboring essential habitats for feeding, breeding, and migrating birds are identified. The program relies on grassroots involvement and collaborative efforts to steward these sites to sustain bird populations while addressing the sensitivities of local people and cultures.

Seventy-four IBAs have been identified across Washington. These IBAs are part of a critical network of sites throughout the Western Hemisphere that are linked by migrating birds.

Read more about IBAs in Washington

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