Audubon of Florida

High, windswept coastal dunes; Low, moist floodplain forests; Dynamic, shifting barrier islands; The broad St. Johns on the last leg of its journey to the Atlantic; Pineywoods narrated by the sound of cicadas; And moss-draped oak hammocks bejeweled with songbird migrants from the tropics…

Northeast Florida is blessed with some of Florida’s most remarkable landscapes. Unfortunately, our region is not unique in the daunting challenges we face to preserve and maintain these places and their wildlife. Learn more by subscribing to the free Coastal Strand.

Leading the Way
As one of Florida’s most experienced conservation organizations, Audubon is applying its expertise to Northeast Florida’s conservation challenges. Our regional office in Marineland, Florida, is employing our signature science-based advocacy and educational outreach to protect the natural assets that make Northeast Florida so special and to cultivate a constituency for conservation.

The Challenges We Face Together
To truly secure the future of Northeast Florida’s natural heritage, Audubon is aiming high. While making Northeast Florida’s coastal habitats and wildlife a particular priority, we’re focusing on Audubon’s core areas of expertise.

Royal Tern Chick© RJ Wiley

Wildlife Protection: Audubon is a wildlife protection leader with an emphasis on bird conservation. Northeast Florida is of hemispheric importance to many species, most notably shorebirds and seabirds dependent upon our beaches.

Public Land Acquisition & Management: We’re advocating for the protection of our landscape “jewels,” and helping public land managers maintain and restore these special places.

Climate Change: Rising sea levels and extreme weather pose dire threats to coastal regions. Audubon is working for clean energy solutions, and to minimize and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Growth Management: Our region’s sprawling communities have whittled away at the natural resources that make Northeast Florida unique. Audubon brings a collaborative, solutions-oriented focus to growth management.

Water: As freshwater becomes ever more precious, Audubon is helping to ensure the water needs of wildlife and natural areas are prioritized.

Building a Sense of Community
Audubon’s greatest strength is our human capital. Our 33,000-plus members in Florida are organized into vibrant, active local chapters. These chapters provide a wealth of backgrounds and expertise, grounding our work in local communities, with local perspectives and local solutions. Everyone has something to contribute: from surveying birds to organizing events to engaging decision makers. By providing varying degrees of involvement for advocates, we are building a culture of conservation populated by informed, engaged grassroots leaders.

Audubon in Action: Beach-nesting Birds
Beach-nesting birds, such as terns and plovers, are struggling to survive in Florida, often because of the intense disturbance by recreational beachgoers. Flushed from their camouflaged nests in the sand, adult birds watch helplessly as eggs and chicks are exposed to the hot sun and predators, or are crushed by unwary pedestrians, dogs or drivers.

One Florida beach species, the threatened Least Tern, has found a partial solution: most now choose to nest on gravel rooftops. However, these “beaches in the sky” have their own perils: chicks fall off roofs and perish. In Northeast Florida, Audubon’s “chick-checking” volunteers return these fallen chicks to their rooftops to rejoin their parents. Recognizing this is only an interim solution—because rooftops are no replacement for real beach habitat— we also help by encouraging public land managers to protect beach nesting areas, and we staff the posted areas on busy weekends with volunteer bird stewards, who act as ambassadors for the birds.

Here at Audubon, we recruit volunteers to assist with on-the-ground wildlife and habitat management. The benefits to wildlife are immediate and connect people with nature. This connection is a gateway for volunteers to quickly become educated on regional conservation issues, stay engaged for longer tenures, and move from volunteerism to advocacy.

Don’t Just Sit There, DO Something!
With the help of its members, volunteers and partners, Audubon is making a difference for Northeast Florida. You have a role to play!

Subscribe to our advocacy e-newsletter, the Coastal Strand.
Get involved with your local chapter. Our Northeast chapters include Duval, St. Johns County, Flagler and Marion County Audubon Societies.
Volunteer to become a chick checker or a bird steward.
Donate to support Audubon’s vision for Northeast Florida.

Become part of Audubon’s Northeast Florida conservation community today. Contact: Monique Borboen, Northeast Florida Policy Associate.

Tools for Conservation
One of Audubon’s goals is to learn from our experiences and use that information to empower other local conservation advocates. Materials we’ve developed in Northeast Florida include: