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Important Bird Areas (IBAs)
History of the Important Bird Area Program
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BirdLife
International is a global coalition of more than 100 country
partner organizations. The IBA Program was initiated by BirdLife
International in Europe in the 1980's. Since then, over 8,000
sites in 178 countries have been identified as Important Bird
Areas, with several national and regional IBA inventories
published in 19 languages. Hundreds of these sites and millions
of acres have received better protection as a result of the
IBA Program.
As the United States Partner of BirdLife
International, the National Audubon Society administers the
IBA Program in the U.S. Audubon launched its IBA initiative
in 1995, establishing programs state by state. State-based
IBA programs provide conservation leaders with the flexibility
to tailor the program to their individual state needs, and
they also give Audubon members and local volunteers the greatest
opportunities to protect sites in their communities. Approximately
48 states have initiated IBA programs and more than 2,100
state-level IBAs, encompassing over 220 million acres, have
been identified. Conservation activities are being conducted
at many of these IBAs.
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