‘People always accuse environmentalists of being pessimistic and doom-and-gloom,' John Cecil of the National Audubon Society said to me recently. ‘But we are optimistic. We think we can do something...that's what keeps us coming into work every day. And our IBA program is one of the things that helps'.

John and his colleague Connie Sanchez run the society's Important Bird Areas initiative from the Audubon Science facility in Bucks Country, Pennsylvania (their home page is http://www.audubon.org/Bird/) . The program is a locally created, state-by-state search for the best habitats there are for birds and other wildlife....with the hope that - whether or not some of them make the grade as continental or global-level ‘critical areas' - they encourage protection of the acreage for future generations.

The National Audubon Society does this as the US representative of BirdLife International (http://www.birdlife.org/) which is a global coalition of more than 100 country partner organizations. The IBA Program was initiated by BirdLife International in Europe in the 1980s, and now some eight thousand places in over 170 countries have been identified. There are 2400 in the USA, totalling 350 million acres - ultimately it is expected there will be over three thousand, covering 15% of the surface area of the country. Half of these are probably significant at the continental level and perhaps 800 at the global level. Audubon uses thousands of volunteers as well as dozens of staff to collate the information to ensure that the area ‘makes the grade', by filling one or more of...

(1) There are bird species that are threatened or endangered; or that are only found in a few areas (making them vulnerable if the area gets built on, for example)

(2) The type of habitat itself is unusual or restricted in area

(3) The area is used by very high numbers of birds at one time or another - for instance, the Delaware Bay, frequented by tens of thousands of red knot

There are, of course gaps. When we look at the map of IBAs (below) then, of course, the Dakotas and Kansas....and huge swathes of Texas....are only ‘blank' because staff and enthusiasts haven't got around to the hard work of identifying the areas yet.

I then asked John about the classic problem that we environmentalists can have: being very paternalistic about habitat protection, just as Kenya was with their attempts to protect the Masai Mara by excluding everyone who lived there. Could this be yet another case of obnoxious green bureaucrats imposing regulations on a hapless landowner if their property happens to sit smack in the middle of an IBA?

‘Happily, no!', John replied, evidently having been asked this before. He explained that, just as the World Land Trust (http://www.worldlandtrust.org/) has always thought, protecting an area only works if the local people are involved and care about the land you are trying to save. Calling a block of land (forest, wetland, mountain range) an ‘Important Bird Area' does not create a cascade of draconian restrictions. In a few US states, it helps wildlife agencies protect them from destructive development; but in all cases, it flags to the world, to the nation, and most importantly, really, to the people living close by, that this area is a gem beyond price. And they can then appreciate it all the more - and start getting involved protecting it from environmental degradation (pollution, invasive species, and so on) ...

...and encouraging all who love nature to come and appreciate it.

How? Well, the Audubon Society encourages local people to set up ‘adoption groups' to support protect and improve the IBAs - and educate the OTHER local people about these treasures in their community.

So, what are you waiting for? Find out how you can help by visiting...

http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/you_do.html

And Audubon really needs to hear from you if you like in the Dakotas or in Kansas. Let's get these places on the map and conservation started!