Dedicated to the preservation of biodiversity, the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program (PNHP) map and identify the most significant natural areas. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, a non-profit conservation organization, conducts these Natural Heritage Inventories (NHI) for counties who choose to carry out this service. According to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy…“Our Natural Heritage Program staff consists of biologists and conservation professionals who inventory and monitor the status of rare plants, animals, and natural communities.”

Organizations, such as, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation, Natural Resources The Nature Conservancy, PA Game Commission, PA Fish and Boat Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Pennsylvania Biological Survey collaborate with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to conduct monitoring and offer scientific assistance when assessing areas and species of concern. This partnership of has the goal to build, sustain, and offer environmental information needed for counties within Pennsylvania for protection, development planning, and natural resource management. The PNHP follows the methodology to conduct surveys provided by NatureServe. This international network of scientific communities utilizes standard data collection which provides a standardized assessment of biological resources and natural communities. Conservation efforts can then be easily and uniformly developed at the local, state, national, and global levels. To learn more about the methodology, please visit NatureServe. The Pennsylvania representation of the NHI program is referred to as the Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory (PNDI) which lists all species and natural areas of concern. The PNDI lists for natural community types, geological features, plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates can be found at the PA DCNR site.

Natural Heritage Areas are classified and then ranked according to the importance of biodiversity and ecological significance of the region into three distinct types:

Biological Diversity Areas:
Contains state or federal species of special concern or natural communities supporting NatureServes global ranking system

Dedicated Areas:
These areas are managed primarily for the protection of ecological integrity as identified by the owners

Landscape Conservation Areas
Regions of importance because of the size and variety of habitats and biological diversity areas within them

Identification of these areas does not offer any regulatory control over management in these areas, but simply guide local citizens, organizations, and government to plan for future conservation, if they so choose.