Four Ways Congress Can Help Birds And People This Year
January 17, 2024 —
Returning lawmakers have an opportunity to help birds, the climate, and our own communities.
Natural Climate Solutions
Maintaining and restoring key ecosystems will help combat climate change and biodiversity loss.
Many of the places that serve as critical bird habitat also have the potential to absorb greenhouse gases and naturally store carbon. These forests, grasslands, working lands, coastal ecosystems, and other landscapes can also help protect drinking water sources, make food systems more resilient, and reduce climate risks like flooding, drought, and extreme heat. That is why Audubon is working to conserve and maintain more lands and water bodies across the Americas to combat the climate and biodiversity crises.
Investing in the integrity and resilience of farms, fields, wetlands, mangroves, and other key ecosystems will help achieve this goal. Landowner and community engagement play a vital role in management and stewardship.
Audubon is working with partners to bring nature-based solutions and bird-friendly practices to these landscapes to achieve conservation and sustainable-development impacts at a significant scale. This work includes the Conservation Ranching initiative, which offers incentives for good grassland stewardship through a certification label on beef products in the U.S., and the Americas Flyways Initiative, which is building strategic partnerships to mobilize private and public funding for natural climate solutions and bird-friendly infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean. Staff are also engaged in local and regional projects like the conservation of mangroves and salt marshes, some of the most carbon-rich ecosystems.
Did you know?
- Audubon’s 2021 report identified 538 million acres of priority forest, 76 million acres of priority grasslands, and 24.7 million acres of priority coastal wetland habitats in the U.S.
- In Colombia, the Sustainable Cattle Ranching Playbook developed by Audubon and partners is now used by cattle ranchers associations to promote bird conservation across landscapes.
- More than 100 ranches in the U.S. now carry the Audubon Certified bird-friendly seal, a package label that recognizes lands managed for birds and biodiversity.
What We're Doing
1
Advocating for science-based policies at the national, state, sub-national, and local levels.
Staff work to promote the advancement of natural climate solutions through public policies that provide incentives for conservation.
2
Carrying out and supporting on-the-ground conservation action.
Our staff are working on projects that protect nature and restore natural ecosystems.
3
Working with partners to make working lands more bird friendly.
Through programs like Conservation Ranching, regenerative agriculture, and Bird-Friendly Maple, participants adopt sustainable approaches and manage their lands to improve bird habitat.
Natural Climate Solutions Throughout the Hemisphere
Regenerative Agriculture Across the Americas
Audubon aims to bring bird-friendly practices to 4.7 million hectares of productive lands in Latin America and the Caribbean, increasing habitat, carbon-storage capacity, and habitat connectivity across landscapes.
Read about it
Mangroves, a Line of Defense Against Climate Change
The Americas are home to 46,284 square kilometers of unparalleled natural wealth that for years has been overlooked and often an underestimated treasure: the mangroves.
Read about it
Intact Forests Trap Carbon and Help Birds
Projects like Audubon's Bird-friendly Maple program and Audubon Certified Forester program help support forests, landowners, birds—and provide ways to keep carbon out of the atmosphere.
Read about it
Audubon's Conservation Ranching Program
To combat the negative effects of grassland degradations—and to keep grass on the landscape—Audubon has developed the Conservation Ranching Initiative. This market-based conservation approach offers incentives for good grassland stewardship through a certification label on beef products.
Read about conservation ranching
Audubon’s 2021 Natural Climate Solutions Report studied ecosystems across the U.S. that are critical to both carbon storage and to birds, both now and under future climate change, and found that these regions often overlapped.
The Latest
Using Science to Craft Conservation Policy that Emphasizes Biodiversity in a Changing Climate
April 18, 2023 —
As the Biden Administration implements the America the Beautiful initiative, a new study identifies areas most likely to provide refuge for plants and wildlife as temperatures warm.
Why Climate Matters for Birds, on Earth Day and Every Day
April 10, 2023 —
Audubon is protecting birds and the places they need in a climate-altered world.
Mangroves, a Line of Defense Against Climate Change
July 27, 2022 —
Julio Montes de Oca, director of Coastal Resilience for the Americas, shares how Audubon is advancing in Latin America and the Caribbean one of the priority hemispheric strategies.
See How Climate Change Will Affect Birds Near You
April 29, 2022 —
Learn about Audubon's most recent science report: Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink
Climate Change Threatens Seabirds on Both Land and Sea
September 24, 2020 —
Protecting birds and people from sea-level rise and warming oceans is a critical part of climate action.
Higher Water Levels Make Nesting More Difficult for South Florida Spoonbills
June 30, 2020 —
Roseate Spoonbills faced a tough nesting season.
New York's Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act
February 21, 2020 —
The Governor's proposal includes measures to protect threatened and endangered species.
Best of 2019: Audubon North Carolina in Action
December 18, 2019 —
From nesting Least Terns to new native plants laws, the Audubon network rallied to protect North Carolina’s birds and the places they need in 2019.
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