The objective of this project was to digitally map the boundaries of Audubon California's Important Bird Areas (IBA). Existing Important Bird Areas identify critical terrestrial and inland water habitats for avifauna, in particular, habitat that supports rare, threatened or endangered birds and/or exceptionally large congregations of shorebirds and/or waterfowl. The digitization of Important Bird Areas represents an important first step in conservation planning of these critical habitats using GIS. As of October 2007, a draft layer of all 148 Important Bird Areas in California was completed. Currently, a review is in progress with Audubon Chapters and local experts, with a final version completed by Nov. 1, 2008. The final map and data will be released to the public in November, 2008. Bird conservation efforts throughout California by Audubon California Please contact Audubon California for use in analysis or publications. This layer is presented in the WGS84 coordinate system for web display purposes. Downloadable data are provided in native coordinate system or projection.
