|
Audubon Vermont
Strategic Plan 2002 - 2008
Approved by the Board in July
2002, Audubon Vermont's Strategic Plan focuses on developing
the means to protect birds, other wildlife and their habitat
in Vermont. We will do this by encouraging an understanding
of our natural world, especially the need to maintain viable
avian habitat and natural communities. Our methods will
include emphasizing site-based education, building relationships
with individuals and families and engaging them in conservation
activities through citizen science and advocacy, and creating
partnerships with other like-minded organizations. All
of our activities will flow from the following overarching
goals.
Strategic Goal One: Begin
to create a network of Audubon Centers in Vermont that will
engage local communities in
education, science and public policy programs.
Audubon's 2020 Vision is a nationwide initiative to establish
a network of 1,000 Audubon Centers to provide quality environmental
education for 1 in 4 school-age children annually, protect
and restore habitat at 5,000 Important Bird Areas and develop
a nation-wide constituency of active conservationists by
the year 2020. Audubon Vermont is a leader in this initiative.
The Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington is one of
the first centers identified nationally as part of Audubon's
2020 Vision.
The primary goal of Audubon Vermont Centers is to broaden,
diversify and grow the number of people who care about the
protection of birds, wildlife and habitat. Audubon Vermont
Centers will be community-based centers that engage children
and adults in positive outdoor experiences in nature and
lay the foundation for a lifetime of caring for and conserving
Vermont's environment and its unique natural communities.
In the next six years Audubon Vermont will seek to dramatically
enhance our Green Mountain Audubon Center, initiate a new
Center in the Rutland area, review the potential for a permanent
facility for our residential camps, and explore targeted
partnerships with other Vermont environmental organizations.
Each Audubon Center will promote Audubon's mission and provide
programs and volunteer opportunities that relate to the needs
of the communities in which they are located.
Strategic Goal Two: Align
Audubon's core programs of education, science and public
policy as well as chapter services to
promote the conservation and restoration of Important Bird
Areas and natural communities.
At the core of Audubon Vermont's mission is the need to protect
and restore birds, wildlife and their habitat. Ultimately,
our programs are a means toward achieving the conservation
of those places that are critical to maintaining Vermont's
bird populations and biodiversity. This theme of protecting
and preserving Important Bird Areas (IBAs) and natural communities
will weave through all Audubon Vermont programs, whether
in Education, Science, Public Policy, or chapter services.
Audubon Centers will educate the public about Vermont's natural
communities and associated wildlife. Our science work will
continue to identify those critical places in the landscape
that need conservation, and develop strategies for their
conservation. Our public policy program will develop solution-based
approaches to protecting IBAs and their natural communities,
with particular emphasis on educating local citizens on the
public policy process and teaching them skills to participate
effectively. Our local chapters will play a key role in these
efforts as they act as local monitors, caretakers, and advocates
for these special Vermont places. Our success will depend
on our ability to integrate these core activities across
program lines.
|
