A global initiative of BirdLife International, implemented by Audubon and local partners in the United States, the Important Bird Areas Program (IBA) is an effort to identify and conserve areas that are vital to birds and biodiversity. IBAs are sites that provide essential breeding, wintering and/or stopover habitat habitat for one or more bird species. IBAs may be a few acres or thousands of acres, but are usually discrete sites that stand out from the surrounding landscape. IBAs may include public or private lands, or both, and they may be protected or unprotected.