National Audubon Society
Audubon’s mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.
For more than a century, Audubon has built a legacy of conservation success by mobilizing the strength of its network of members, chapters, Audubon centers, state offices, and dedicated professional staff to connect people with nature and the power to protect it.
Our successes include:
- Protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other fragile habitats
- The ongoing recovery of the imperiled California Condor and Brown Pelican
- Adoption of innovative policies that balance habitat protection with green energy development on millions of acres
- Continuing restoration of the Everglades and Long Island Sound
National Audubon was key to establishing the Public Trust doctrine with its lawsuit protecting Mono Lake.
Click here to understand the current law on migratory species.
Citizen Science
More than a century ago, Audubon pioneered the idea of citizen science with the first Christmas Bird Count. Today the longest-running wildlife census in the hemisphere continues to shape and inform our approach to conservation, providing vital information about bird populations and trends, data that alerts us to environmental threats not only to birds but to the larger ecosystems we all depend on. As partners with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in ebird.org, Audubon has helped transform citizen science into an everyday activity for tens of thousands of birders. Their observations, reported online anytime and from anywhere throughout North America, provide an ongoing assessment of bird populations that is fast becoming an invaluable resource for conservation.
New National Policy toward Chapters
Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation
New tools and resources are amplifying the impact and influence of Audubon’s scientific work and driving conservation impact. These include the adoption of an adaptive management tool, the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation, for conservation planning and implementation. Using this results-driven methodology throughout the Audubon network will make us more agile and nimble, and support a continuous improvement model of assessment and refinement.
Important Bird Areas
Science is the foundation of Audubon’s Important Bird Areas program. As partner of BirdLife International, we use science to identify, assess, and monitor the most essential habitat for birds. These sites help us focus our conservation efforts where they are most needed. Click here to read about our IBA program