Conservation Initiatives
Our conservation actions are focused on the local area of our membership and the surrounding region. We specifically protect birds and their habitats, speaking out against legislation that threatens these based on scientific evidence. We also advocate for conservation strategies that will preserve natural open space and encourage bird and wildlife-friendly designs of the urban built environment.
“Protecting birds and their habitats through individual & community-based conservation action, and advocating for nature conservation through legislation and policy advocacy.”
Canyon Wren
Endangered Species
Los Angeles Audubon Society organizes surveys of the threatened Western Snowy Plover on Los Angeles County beaches, along with many volunteers and partners in other Audubon chapters. As a result of these efforts and others, the wintering population has now expanded into a breeding population, with the first nesting plovers in Los Angeles County in seventy years.
Black-crowned Night Heron
Threats to Birds
The biggest threat to birds in California is habitat loss — any activity that converts natural vegetation into another land use, whether for energy production, agriculture, commercial, industrial, or residential land use. We therefore work to reduce the footprint of such development, be it urban sprawl or energy sprawl as land-intensive projects extend into natural habitats or impact the remaining natural areas in cities.
View of downtown LA
Urban Forest
As an urban chapter, much of the area of our membership is no longer in a natural state. But that does not mean it does not have birds! For a large city like Los Angeles, the best way we can encourage birds, both resident and migratory, is to protect and enhance the urban forest.
Policy and Legislation
A conservationist’s job is never done. We comment on national legislation and policies as well as state and local issues.
Student interns in Los Angeles Audubon’s Baldwin Hills Leadership Program produced a Kill Your Lawn comic book showcasing the benefits of native plants vs. a lawn.