Services
The Alabama Natural Heritage Program provides services that support conservation, land-use planning, environmental review and natural resource management.
Our staff work with agencies, consultants, land managers, conservation organizations, municipalities, researchers and other partners who need information about rare species, natural communities and other natural features in Alabama and the southeastern region.
Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, provide a powerful way to create, organize and analyze spatial data for planning and decision-making.
ALNHP provides custom GIS analysis and mapping services, including custom maps, species distribution maps and predictive distribution modeling. These tools can help users understand where species or ecological communities are known to occur or are likely to occur based on available data and environmental variables.
ALNHP performs ecological surveys to support the inventory needs of federal, state and local land management agencies, organizations and other partners.
Our staff have experience designing and conducting field surveys for rare and imperiled plants, animals and natural communities throughout Alabama and the southeastern region. Surveys may focus on a single species, a targeted group of species or a more comprehensive inventory that includes plants, animals and natural communities.
Although ALNHP maintains a comprehensive database on rare species and natural communities in Alabama, this information is continually updated and may not be complete for specific areas. Some places have never been surveyed, may not have been surveyed recently or may have information that was never recorded.
Field surveys can update older records, fill data gaps and provide a more accurate picture of biodiversity in a given area. Information collected during surveys supports land-use planning, natural resource management and conservation decisions, while also adding valuable data to ALNHP’s database.
ALNHP provides conservation planning services for organizations that want to use sound data, science and tools to support conservation decisions.
Planning projects may use existing information or be incorporated into a larger inventory effort. The scope of a project can range from a single-species conservation effort to a broader biodiversity conservation strategy or comprehensive strategic plan.
ALNHP staff bring ecological knowledge, GIS mapping and modeling expertise to conservation planning projects. For projects that require additional expertise, ALNHP partners with academic institutions, governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations.
ALNHP staff can review projects to identify rare and imperiled species, natural communities, endangered species habitat, habitats of other species of concern or other exceptional natural features that could potentially be affected by a project.
Environmental review may be useful for localities, state and federal regulatory agencies, and private consultants seeking information to meet local, state or federal regulatory needs.
An environmental review response summarizes existing information known to ALNHP at the time of the request. It should not be considered a final statement on the site being considered or a substitute for field surveys required for environmental assessments.
Many areas have never been thoroughly surveyed. The absence of data in a particular geographic area does not necessarily mean that species or ecological communities of concern are not present.
To request services or project support, please submit a data request or contact ALNHP for guidance.
For project review, ALNHP needs a project description, a map with project boundaries clearly marked or a GIS file of the project area, and contact information.
