As the U.S. partner for BirdLife International, Audubon spearheads an ambitious effort to identify, monitor, and protect the most important places for birds. We also collaborate with 19 international partners to extend a web of protection throughout the Western Hemisphere. To date Audubon has identified 2,758 IBAs covering 417 million acres of public and private lands in the United States. Among them are high-priority Global IBAs—places like the New Mexico Lesser Prairie-Chicken Complex or Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Birds depend on a diverse range of habitats, and the threats that confront them are equally varied.

Audubon New Mexico's Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program began in 1999 and has made progress in the identification of sites (throughout New Mexico, 62 Important Bird Areas have been identified). By working with local communities, landowners, land managers, birders, and other stakeholders, we work to protect these sites so that they can continue to serve as the vital habitat on which both birds and people rely.