BirdLife International is the world’s largest conservation partnership. It strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity. It is made up of 119 national partners around the world, each one an independent NGO. Globally, BirdLife employs 7,400 staff and its head office is located in Cambridge.

Birdlife International was founded in 1922 and was first known as the International Council for Bird Preservation. In 1993 it became BirdLife International, initially with 20 partners, and has since grown to encompass 119.

The partnership’s aim is to have a single BirdLife partner for as many countries and territories as possible around the world. In the UK, BirdLife’s partner is RSPB. Other partners include the Hellenic Ornithological Society in Greece, Nature Iraq, the Wild Bird Society of Japan and the Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia.

In addition to its global head office in Cambridge, BirdLife has regional offices in Kenya, Ecuador, Fiji, Jordan, Japan and Belgium.

BirdLife is committed to preventing extinctions in the wild, maintaining the conservation status of all bird species, conserving important habitats for birds and sustaining vital ecological systems which underpin human livelihoods.

The partnership also works with companies that have demonstrated a commitment to improve environmental performance. BirdLife has global strategic partnerships with Cemex, Heidelberg Cement and Rio Tinto.

BirdLife has many projects around the world. It delivers research on the impact of climate change on biodiversity and by working to conserve and manage forests, peatlands and other habitats, BirdLife members are helping to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

BirdLife’s ‘Forests of Hope’ programme aims to prevent deforestation and restore natural forest in the tropics. BirdLife is focused on forest areas that are of high importance for biodiversity and is working at major forest sites in more than 50 countries across four continents - with benefits to forest people as well as wildlife.

Since the late 1970s, BirdLife partners have been working collectively to identify and protect the places on earth of greatest significance for the conservation of the world’s birds. As a result, over 12,000 ‘Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas’ have been identified.

Another priority for BirdLife is working to protect seabirds which are one of the world’s most threatened group of birds. In 2001, BirdLife launched the ‘Save the Albatross’ campaign and the work of its Albatross Taskforce is now being carried out in seven countries in southern Africa and South America.

In addition to offering job opportunities, BirdLife International also seeks volunteers at its global head office in Cambridge and at BirdLife Europe, which is based in Brussels.