What is the IBA’s Policy for Links on our Website? 

The Internet provides an opportunity for the IBA to disseminate valuable and accurate information to the membership and the public about bears and bear management.  One way we can do this is through links from the IBA website to other sites that are consistent with the mission of the IBA.  While we cannot control the content of other websites, we can set criteria for selecting links that we can post on our website.   

How Does the IBA Evaluate Links? 

We evaluate our links through our Website Committee, which includes at least three IBA members, including the IBA Webmaster.  Links must be approved by a majority of the committee.  On occasion, we may agree to limit the number of links in order to keep our website attractive and efficient.   

What are the Criteria for Links? 

• Sites must have a clear contribution to IBA’s mission.
• Sites must include factual information about bear ecology, biology, research, management, or bear education. 
• Sites must be substantially complete (i.e. a site that has a high proportion of “under construction” pages will likely not be approved unless it is a long-standing site previously approved by IBA that is being up-dated).
• In general, nonprofit sites will be preferred.  However, in the case of sites that pertain to non-North American bear species, sites may be for profit if such sites are raising funds for conservation of native bear species.  In any case, the site must meet the other criteria as well. 
• Each site requesting a link from the IBA website should send a brief description of the contents to assist reviewers and clearly state the relevance to the IBA's mission. 

• If the predominant language of the site is not English, or there is not an option for an English version, please submit a summary in English to the review committee.