American Avocets. Photo: Natalia Kuzmina/Alamy

Welcome to Flight Plan

Our bold strategic plan will achieve new levels of impact for birds, people, and the planet.

American Avocets. Photo: Natalia Kuzmina/Alamy

We protect birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow.

Audubon is responding to the greatest challenges facing birds and people today while anticipating the issues—and opportunities—of tomorrow. We remain focused on birds because we know their collective health reflects the health of our planet. What’s good for birds is good for the Earth.

Our Impact

Birds Habitat Climate Solutions Driving Policy Building Community Advancing Science

For 120 years and counting, Audubon has demonstrated strength, adaptability, and resilience through periods of change.

In my lifetime, North America has lost more than 3 billion birds. This is a catastrophe playing out on a planetary scale. We are reaching a tipping point for birds, magnified by the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. But if we act now—in this critical decade—we can reverse this trend.

—Dr. Elizabeth Gray, Chief Executive Officer

Flight Plan, our 2023–2028 strategic plan, represents a new era that builds on the strengths and lessons from our past. With it, we can meaningfully align our work as we attempt to "bend the bird curve," meaning that we are working to halt, and ultimately reverse, the decline of birds across the Americas. This work requires us to work efficiently across habitats and national borders, with partners and governments and local communities sharing the same resources as their local birds.

The urgency of the moment demands much of us. This is a turning point for our planet and our organization, and Audubon is ready to meet the challenge. Flight Plan positions us to achieve meaningful and lasting impact—protecting birds, people, and our planet.

What Sets Audubon Apart

We follow the science

Audubon’s recent investments in our science leadership are paying dividends. Tools like the Migratory Bird Explorer and studies like Survival by Degrees enable Audubon to make science-based decisions about the places that matter most for birds.

We embrace nonpartisanship.

Across the Americas, the political landscape is increasingly divisive. Audubon—a known centrist brand—plays a unique role as a convener that engages decision makers and supporters from across the political spectrum. We put policy over politics.

We pair grasstops diplomacy with grassroots advocacy.

Audubon pairs grasstops diplomacy with a committed network of grassroots advocates. These critical supporters will influence decision makers in government and the private sector to achieve our 2028 milestones.

We inspire an expansive Audubon flock.

Our chapters and centers are hubs that connect individuals and communities to Audubon. Our lands and sanctuaries are living laboratories where we test and pilot innovative conservation projects. Our network spans the hemisphere.

Where We Will Work

We identified a total of 3.7 billion acres across the hemisphere representing key ecoregions in which Audubon would focus efforts to bend the bird curve. These are distributed across Forests (1.3B acres); Grasslands, Aridlands, and Tundra (1.3B acres); Wetlands & Coastal (550M acres), Marine (450M acres), and Urban (12M). Within these habitats, we have identified nearly 60 percent as current priorities reflecting current capacities and the remainder are potential future priorities to be evaluated during the operational blueprint development process.

How We Will Work for Maximum Impact

We will improve and expand habitat while tackling the impacts and causes of climate change. We will leverage public and corporate policies and funding to achieve gains in habitat and climate, while building a base of supporters inspired to change the world for birds. As a result, we are prepared to inspire, influence, innovate, and achieve unprecedented impact.

Flight Plan

Habitat Conservation

Habitat loss, exacerbated by climate change, is driving bird declines across the hemisphere. Fueled by the unmatched science of the Migratory Bird Initiative, and in collaboration with local communities and partners, Audubon will ensure the protection and restoration of the places birds need. This includes the migratory pathways of today and the refuges birds will seek out as climate impacts worsen.

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Flight Plan

Climate Action

Audubon’s Survival by Degrees report tells us birds face unprecedented threats from climate change. Two-thirds of North American bird species may face unlivable conditions across their current ranges by 2080. There is no path to stabilizing the climate without dramatically changing how we produce electricity. Seventy-three percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from the energy sector. A shift to clean energy is critical for birds’ long-term survival, and our own.

Learn more about how we are advancing climate solutions

Flight Plan

Driving Policy

Public policy and funding have a catalytic effect on protecting bird habitat and addressing climate change. Concepts we test and demonstrate in our on-the-ground conservation programs can be scaled through policy initiatives. Known as a nonpartisan organization, we play a unique role as a connector and convener across the political spectrum.

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Flight Plan

Building Community

Transformative change requires widespread public support and action. To make the change in the world we need to protect birds, we will expand the constituency of people who care and take action for birds at both the grassroots and grasstops levels, and grow our flock to create substantive conservation impact.

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