About Audubon Southwest

Greater Roadrunner. Photo: Sandrine Biziaux Scherson/Audubon Photography Awards

Mission and How We Work

Audubon protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation.

Audubon Southwest is the regional office of the National Audubon Society, covering Arizona and New Mexico. 

We know that to find solutions for birds, we must also find solutions for people. Across Arizona and New Mexico, we work toward our mission within a handful of strategic areas: Bird-Friendly Communities, Climate, Water, and Working Lands.

How We Work

To protect birds and the places they need through the above strategic areas, Audubon Southwest engages in science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. We choose these approaches because education builds more effective advocates, scientists, and conservationists; because science ensures sure our education, advocacy, and conservation is accurate and beneficial; and because advocacy supports the investment and willpower that feeds into effective education, science, and conservation. Employing all of these tactics allows us to drive change effectively across multiple scales while benefiting birds and the places they need today and tomorrow.

Science

Audubon works to save birds with work firmly grounded in science. As leaders in applied bird conservation science, we engage in research and analysis to support the development of our programs, to build our authority as a science-led thought leader, and to inform and evaluate the work of Audubon and our partners.

Community science, which is the practice of communal and participatory research, is central to Audubon’s legacy and identity—and the involvement of community scientists is fundamental to Audubon’s work to improve the lives of birds. In Arizona and New Mexico, chapters and Audubon Southwest mobilize community members in science efforts throughout the year.

Engage in community science by joining a bird count, survey, or other opportunity.

Advocacy

The goal of advocacy is to gain support to create change for the better. Audubon mobilizes advocacy action at both the grasstops and grassroots levels to build enduring support for conservation at a level great enough to ensure that public policy and private enterprise do right by birds as often as possible. 

Audubon is a respected voice on policy issues. We convene stakeholders to facilitate decision-making; engage constituents and legislators; distill and break down complex policy and management issues; and seek to influence policy with direct, indirect, and grassroots lobbying. We strive to connect our advocates to their elected officials, at the most effective time for them to use their voice for birds, with action alerts and other advocacy opportunities.

Join Audubon's Western Rivers Action Network to receive action alerts about water issues affecting birds across the arid west, and find other ways to take action with Audubon Southwest.

Education

Audubon develops and leads education programming to increase the public’s understanding of the impacts of climate change and real-world solutions they can implement; to foster a well-trained and passionate workforce for environmental and conservation jobs; and to build a diverse coalition of people who care about and advocate for birds, water, and the natural environment with a focus on the inequitable impact that climate change has on marginalized communities.

In Arizona and New Mexico, we lead field trips, in-classroom programs, out-of-school programs like summer camp and Boy/Girl Scouts activities, and informal education opportunities for children, students, and adults. 

Learn more about our education work and book a program.

Conservation

On-the-ground conservation is critical for restoring places that birds need today, and protecting them for tomorrow and into the future. We prioritize conservation efforts that can provide immediate relief for our species of concern, while ensuring those efforts can yield long-term and multi-species benefits.

Get involved in on-the-ground conservation by volunteering with us.

Learn More About Our Work

Climate
Our Work

Climate

Envisioning a future where southwestern birds, ecosystems, and communities thrive in the face of climate change.

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Bird-Friendly Communities
Our Work

Bird-friendly Communities

Where birds thrive, people prosper.

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Education
Our Work

Education

Developing the next generation of conservation leaders.

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Water
Our Work

Water

Envisioning a future in which water is flowing in rivers, riparian and wetland habitat is protected and restored, water use decisions are made inclusively and equitably, and all people of the Southwest have access to clean and reliable water.

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Working Lands
Our Work

Working Lands

Envisioning a future where our grasslands, arid-lands, and forests provide the quality and quantity of habitat needed to sustain healthy bird populations.

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Who We Are
About Us

Who We Are

Learn about our team and board of directors, and contact us.

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How you can help, right now