Audubon's International Alliances Program strategically selects its project sites along migratory flyways throughout the Western Hemisphere in order to conserve the most critical habitats for birds during each leg of their annual journeys to southern wintering grounds. By linking Audubon to in-country partner organizations throughout the Americas, IAP strengthens the capacity of these organizations to connect local communities with their landscapes and with the birds that rely on them for survival.

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© Bahamas National Trust

Bahamas
The wetlands, marine shorelines and mangrove ecosystems of the Bahamas are vital to that nation’s economic well-being, and natural wealth, in the form of both general biodiversity and the islands’ migratory and endemic birds. Over 100 bird species – many of them threatened or of conservation concern—rely on Bahamian habitats for foraging, nesting, and roosting during some portion of their lifecycle. Read more...

© Belize Audubon Society

Belize
For years, IAP partner organization Belize Audubon Society, which co-manages several of Belize’s federally protected areas, met resistance from community members in and around Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary when trying to implement conservation practices. Many local residents who have historically used the Sanctuary’s land, water, timber, and fish for subsistence purposes were opposed to regulating access to these resources in the face of increased pressures on the Sanctuary from population and development growth. Thanks to the combined efforts of IAP and Belize Audubon, which recently completed the first phase of its long-term conservation initiative through a campaign in Crooked Tree, the Sanctuary’s various stakeholders are now emerging as supporters and catalysts of conservation efforts in this precious ecosystem and important habitat for migratory birds. Read more…

© Panama Audubon Society

Panama
Situated along 40 miles of Panama's Pacific coast, the wetlands of the Panama Bay support over 80% of all migratory shorebirds that pass through this crucial isthmus connecting North and South America during their annual flights. Twenty US Neotropical migrants that National Audubon has identified as birds of conservation concern, including the Red Knot, Long-billed Curlew, and Buff-breasted Sandpiper, utilize the mangroves and their rich habitats during their annual stopover. IAP, in partnership with Panama Audubon Society and Rare, recently completed a public awareness-raising campaign in communities neighboring the Bay and is now working with Panama Audubon Society to build capacity and develop a plan for long-term conservation of the Bay. This critical site is not only an important site for Neotropical birds, but also for such globally threatened species as the Jaguar, Tapir, Spider Monkey, American Crocodile, and Loggerhead Sea Turtle. Read more...

© San Rafael National Park

Paraguay
San Rafael National Park is situated within one of the largest remaining tracts of the South American Atlantic Forest, which once spanned over 300 million acres across Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Although a mere seven percent of this fragmented ecosystem remains today, its forests support some of the world’s highest levels of biodiversity, which unfortunately, are also some of the world’s most threatened. Slash and burn agriculture, extraction of birds and wildlife for illegal trade, and minimal enforcement of existing park regulations all pose significant barriers to the maintenance of this unique landscape’s ecological integrity. Together with Guyra Paraguay and Rare, IAP completed a public awareness campaign in San Rafael that developed solutions to these challenges by balancing the region’s competing needs for economic and ecological uses of the land. The campaign worked primarily with farmers, whose actions directly determine the health of the forest and its resources, to implement more sustainable agricultural methods that are already proving to be more beneficial to the region’s economy, landscape, and people. Read more...

© Pronatura Veracruz

Veracruz, Mexico
The coastal plains and mountains of central Veracruz, Mexico are home to one of the most important sites for raptor migration in the world. The dramatic topography and unique thermal wind currents of this region funnel birds migrating from both eastern and western regions of the United States into a single flight path, thus creating a steady stream of migrants, or a “River of Raptors” over central Veracruz. While millions of raptors and other migratory birds pass through Veracruz during their annual flights, current threats to their stopover habitats are posing potentially irreversible damage to the landscape. Land conversion for cattle ranching and monocrop production are fueling rapid deforestation in central Veracruz, which is destroying the resources that migrating raptors rely on for feeding and roosting during their annual flights. IAP and Pronatura Veracruz are currently addressing these challenges by working with existing landowners to develop best management practices for the region that will balance the need for productive land use and conservation of critically important bird habitat. Read more...