The Important Bird Area (IBA) Program – The IBA concept was developed in 1985 in England by BirdLife International as a model for prioritizing bird conservation areas around the world. In 1995 BirdLife partnered with the American Bird Conservancy and the National Audubon Society to launch the IBA Program in the United States. Mass Audubon initiated the IBA Program in Massachusetts in 2001.
By 2002, 79 sites were identified and designated as IBAs throughout the Commonwealth. Since then Mass Audubon has made extensive significant efforts to promote bird conservation activities at existing IBAs, including the initiation of monitoring and support groups using volunteers and related alliances that will together increase protection and appropriate stewardship of IBAs in the future. The primary objective is to facilitate whatever strategy works best for each site as well as to ensure the future protection of the site as an IBA.
Among the tools needed to effectively publicize and educate the public about the existence and significance of the IBA Program are high quality, colorful, and informative signs, and high-quality informational brochures that can be prominently displayed or distributed to a wide variety of audiences at appropriate IBA venues throughout Massachusetts.
Project Report: Massachusetts Important Bird Area Program Signage Project