Audubon Important Bird Areas at Risk from the Gulf Oil Spill

The Gulf oil disaster has already reached a dozen of Audubon’s Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and more lie in the peril’s path. Their crucial importance to birds and wildlife has not only earned many of these areas recognition as IBAs, but led to their federal designation as National Seashore sites, National Wildlife Refuges and Wildlife Management Areas.

Preventing oil from reaching more of these sites and protecting nesting birds on beaches and in wetlands is the highest immediate conservation priority. But as the oil continues to spew, Audubon is also focused on the inevitable need for long term recovery and restoration. Our network of Gulf Coast IBAs will play a crucial role in that process.

Explore the map below to learn more about these special places, and the birds that depend on them. Affected IBAs are shown in red; unaffected IBAs are shown in green; and the current extent of the oil spill is shown in brown. Visit Important Bird Areas Program to learn how Audubon is helping to protect and restore critical bird habitat throughout the United States.

Sources: National Audubon Society and state and federal agencies.