Advocacy

Advocacy – Stepping up and speaking out on behalf of the birds we love!
OUR voices and actions matter!

As we feature on our “Threats to Birds” page on this website, each day, birds face many threats – many of them lethal and most of them caused or worsened by human actions. The good news in that sad statement is this: since we are often the cause of the problem, we can be the solution to the problem! 

2023 NC Audubon Advocacy Days event in Raleigh
From left to right: Janice Wakefield, Don Lendle, Wendy Hawkins, Rep. Dr. Amber Baker, Shari Burrell, and Kim Richmond

The climate crisis is the greatest threat that birds face! How much that threat worsens over time is wholly dependent on human actions right now. Step up and speak out about government policies needed to decrease greenhouse gas emissions at the local, state, and national levels!

The more humans expand their territory, the more the territory decreases that birds and other wildlife need to survive. Step up and speak out about expansion of development in and around our urban areas.

Light pollution is a particular threat to migrating birds. Step up and speak out for a local Lights Out for Birds program that encourages business owners and residents to participate in turning off their lights during key migration periods in the Spring and Fall of each year.

Reflective glass on buildings during the daytime is also a key threat to bird safety, often causing birds to fly directly into the glass because it reflects the blue sky or nearby vegetation. Step up and speak out for implementation of bird friendly building standards in our area. To learn more, visit https://www.audubon.org/news/reducing-collisions-glass. 

Contaminants and waste on land and in the water, such as chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, plastics, and other pollutants, threaten birds and other wildlife, as well as humans. Step up and speak out about regulations at the local, state, and national levels necessary to control these hazards.     

To help mitigate the threat posed from outside cats, step up and speak out about enforcement of local leash laws.

What are we doing at Forsyth Audubon?

In the past few years, we have “stepped up and spoken out” in these ways…

  • Support for decreasing habitat destruction and fragmentation by meeting with our state senators and representatives about the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Bill (2021, 2022, and 2023);
  • Support for restoration and expansion of healthy bird habitat by meeting with our state senators and representatives regarding the NC Native Plants Bill (2022 and 2023);
  • Support for increases in conservation funding by meeting with our state senators and representatives (most recently in 2021, 2022, and 2023);
  • Implementing a local Lights Out Program for buildings in downtown Winston Salem effective in 2015, with seven large buildings presently participating;
  • Obtaining passage of a Uniform Development Ordinance (UDO #266) in 2015 for Forsyth County that encourages use of a suggested list of native plants by developers;
  • Participating in the local Piedmont Environmental Alliance Coalition that advocates for sustainability and sound environmental practices; and
  • Reaching out to, and establishing relationships with, local government staff and elected officials to develop ways to partner with them on improving local bird habitat and safety practices and ways to increase community engagement in these areas.