[audubon-news] Audubon At Home Website Launched
- From: "BIANCHI, John" <JBIANCHI@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <audubon-news@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2004 15:05:49 -0500
Contact: John Bianchi
212/979-3026
jbianchi@xxxxxxxxxxx
MAKE YOUR BACKYARD BIRD FRIENDLY:
AUDUBON AT HOME LAUNCHES WEBSITE
Program to Create Healthy Habitats Ties into Great Backyard Bird Count
Ivyland, Pennsylvania, Thursday, February 5, 2004 - You know where you live,
but do you know your "ecological address?" Audubon At Home, a new program made
possible in part by the US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS), is bringing conservation home through an exciting,
interactive website designed to give guests useful information on making their
backyards more bird-friendly, and their homes healthier and safer for their
families. It accomplishes this by helping users identify the natural
characteristics of their property and its role in local ecology.
As the centerpiece of this year's Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)
www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ <http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/>, Audubon is
stressing the value of backyard habitat and asks participants to make their
yards not only bird-friendly, but also bird-safe. The new Audubon At Home
website, <http://www.audubon.org/bird/at_home/index.html>, contains a treasure
trove of information that gives users the tools they need to create backyards
that will attract birds and safeguard them as well.
"Each yard, no matter the size, has the potential to help birds," said Sally
Conyne, Director of the GBBC. "By providing just a few neccessities, your home
landscape will attract birds, beneficial insects, and other wildlife. You'll
be rewarded with a low-maintenance yard bustling with the variety of colors and
textures you would find in far wilder places."
Historically, conservation efforts have focused on open space and wilderness
tracts. Fragmented by development and industry, natural lands, especially
those near metropolitan areas, are dwindling even as you read the words on this
page. In the United States suburban sprawl increases by more than 2 million
acres every year.
Audubon At Home is an innovative program designed to mitigate some of the
problems created in suburban areas. Birds and other wildlife don't recognize
property lines and travel into yards where food and shelter are provided. What
individuals do in their own yards can make a difference in the lives of birds;
the healthier American yards are, the better for the health of the environment.
The GBBC, conducted by Audubon and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in
cooperation with Bird Studies Canada - and sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited
and the NRCS - takes place February 13-16. People throughout the Americas are
being asked to count birds in their backyards or local parks so that Audubon
and partners can assess the health of wild bird populations and the value of
backyards as bird habitat. By helping with the seventh annual count,
participants can help protect our great natural heritage.
Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat
that supports them. Our national network of community-based nature centers and
chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas
sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages
and backgrounds in positive conservation experiences.
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