Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival November 13 - 17, 2002 in Brevard County, Florida A celebration of birds and wildlife.

THE AUDUBON SOCIETY
AND THE NEW CONSERVATION CHALLENGES

DR. JEFFREY V. WELLS

The Audubon movement began out of the drastic declines in many bird species at the dawn of the 20th century. For those pioneers of bird conservation, the overriding issues that needed to be tackled to conserve and restore bird populations were relatively straightforwardÑeliminate and regulate the massive unsustainable killing of birds. The success of those early Auduboner's charted the history of wildlife conservation in the U.S., slowing the loss of biodiversity and even restoring populations of many birds and other wildlife. Sadly, in the century of Audubon's existence as a conservation movement, the conservation issues facing our world have become more complicated and difficult to conquer.

In the face of this challenge Audubon is revolutionizing its commitment, bringing forth a new set of innovative strategies and programs specifically designed to meet the new century's conservation problems at the scale necessary for success. This means building more staff capacity directed at conservation issues, harnessing the energies of volunteers for monitoring and conservation efforts, and investing in building an army of people who care about the environment through a network of Audubon education centers.

One of Audubon's most significant new conservation programs is the Important Bird Areas (IBA) initiative which has been building quietly since 1995 when the first U.S. IBA program was started by Audubon Pennsylvania. Unlike site identification and conservation initiatives of other organizations which focus only on a few locations that support rare species, the IBA program takes a more comprehensive approach, identifying and cataloguing an entire suite of sites necessary for ensuring the long-term survival of all bird species. The criteria used to select sites are scientific and were first developed by a team of the world's top bird conservation scientists from BirdLife International, a coalition of organizations from more than 100 countries. Audubon, as the BirdLife International partner and representative for the U.S., has added the U.S. to the world's jigsaw puzzle of Important Bird Areas, eventually expecting to add 5,000-10,000 sites to the global network.

Realizing that the identification of IBAs is only a first, small step towards conservation, Audubon has taken a careful approach to building the program through a series of state-level initiatives each using a team of the top bird experts in that state led by an Audubon staff bird conservation officer. With 40 state IBA programs underway led by more than 30 bird conservation staff, Audubon is now not only well on its way to building the infrastructure necessary to tackle this century's bird conservation issues but, as a consequence, has now built the world's largest national IBA program.

Already these 40 state IBA programs have identified more than 1,300 sites and new state IBA inventories are being completed and published at an amazing rate. Audubon of Florida's IBA initiative, under the leadership of Bill Pranty, is proving to be one of the nation's trend setters with an amazingly comprehensive and detailed inventory of the state's most critical sites recently completed. By the end of 2003 Audubon is expected to have 50 state IBA programs established, more than 2,000 IBAs identified, and, most importantly, direct conservation activities ongoing at hundreds of sites across the U.S. Already Audubon staff have protected, enhanced, or restored habitat for hundreds of bird species at IBAs. Audubon of Florida led a coalition which obtained more than $1 billion dollars to restore the Everglades, one of the most significant IBAs in the U.S. Audubon North Carolina has spearheaded the purchase of the Lea-Hutaff Islands IBA, protecting thousands of acres of habitat on one of the state's largest remaining barrier beach islands from development. Audubon California brought $1 million for restoration of habitats for endangered Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Willow Flycatchers within the Kern River Basin. Audubon Pennsylvania launched the Kitattinny Ridge Conservation Project to conserve the 180,000-acre IBA through which a large proportion of the hawks and eagles of the eastern U.S. pass each fall. Audubon North Dakota coordinates the Grand Forks County Prairie Project to conserve 20,000-acres of saline prairie supporting LeConte's Sparrows and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows.

These are just a few examples of the conservation work that Audubon is already engaged in across the U.S. but it is only the beginning of Audubon's renewed commitment to stop declines of our bird species. Within the next five years Audubon staff will be engaged in projects like these at hundreds of sites affecting hundreds of thousands of acres of vital habitat. Billions of dollars are required to conserve and restore the ecosystems necessary to sustain birds, wildlife, and habitat and Audubon is building the infrastructure that will make it happen.

Part of that infrastructure is the building of a constituency of millions of people who understand the links between wildlife conservation and human health and prosperity. Audubon's has embarked on an ambitious vision of building hundreds of environmental education centers over the next decade that will ultimately be the touchstones in communities across the U.S. that bring people in closer contact with the natural world. Many of these Audubon Centers will be in or near Audubon Important Bird Areas, further solidifying the Audubon focus on tackling the most pressing conservation problems of today's world.

Through the IBA initiative, Audubon Centers and other programs, Audubon is focusing its actions and resources on the issues and sites that will ensure that birds, wildlife, and the habitats upon which they depend remain a part of our country's great natural heritage for generations into the future to enjoy. Events like the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival clearly share this vision for engaging communities in conservation by making birding and natural history exploration a fun, family-oriented activity. The success of this festival is already serving as a model for other communities across the U.S. Thank you for your leadership and congratulations from Audubon!

Jeffrey V. Wells appointed Director of Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society

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Keynote Speakers
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