Rutter, J. (2023, December 20). Celebrating birds and their habitats conserved in 2023: Reversing Bird population declines. American Bird Conservancy. https://abcbirds.org/news/abc-results-2023-reversing-bird-declines/#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20we%20provided%20direct,on%20an%20additional%2032%2C205%20acres. 

In an effort to combat the substantial decline in migratory bird populations in the United States, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) employs the BirdScapes approach. Through conservation initiatives spanning core breeding, stopover, and wintering areas. ABC has defined and acted upon 100 BirdScapes, positively impacting 9.3 million acres of habitat for declining bird species. Some of the ABC’s successful regional projects include habitat restoration in the Central U.S. to address the loss of grassland birds and the restoration of early successional habitat in the Great Lakes. They also initiated tracking projects for migratory birds in the Northern Great Plains to understand their habits and help improve the migration population. Last, this year the ABC took legal action to prevent the drying up of the Great Salt Lake, a critical site for migratory birds, showcasing their commitment to addressing environmental threats.

I appreciate the approach that the American Bird Conservatory is taking because I believe it is a more holistic approach. I like how they look at and research each step the birds take throughout their migration process to ensure it isn’t disrupted at any point. This ensures the process cant be screwed up at any one point. I think it is important that they continue to expand their reach and approach this effort over many acres and in different areas of the country. Protecting the migration of birds is important for the environment because it ensures that they are moving from areas of depleting resources to areas of increasing resources and back. Without this important process, the environment can begin to lack the necessary resources these birds need to thrive, like food, protection, and proper weather. Eventually, if this process becomes disrupted it can lead to extinction which is catastrophic for the ecosystem they belong in.