Reference Document 6-2
Appendix 6
with at least one animal or plant SGCN observed. Roughly 4.1 million acres (46%) of the SGCN cores are currently in a protected status according to the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Note: these calculations include cores that extend beyond the NC boundary.
Number of cores
Number of SGCN present
Acres
2,414
≤ 5
4,306,003 1,374,350 1,453,506
340 147
6-10
11-20 21-40
41 11
750,160 877,340
≥ 41
Part II: Additional aquatic, connectivity, and Blueprint priorities Rationale for further COA development As the NC Natural Heritage Program manages and curates the most comprehensive database of natural resource inventories and SGCN occurrences within the state, the SGCN core analysis serves as a strong foundation for NC’s COAs. To further develop and refine the COAs for the 2025 NC SWAP update, we also added complementary datasets from the Southeast Conservation Blueprint to represent other ecological and habitat characteristics, factor in connectivity and climate resilience, and improve alignment with partner priorities. At the request of NC WRC staff, we also included priority river buffers from the 2015 SWAP to capture areas of aquatic diversity that remain particularly important to the agency. Using hubs and corridors from the Southeast Blueprint connectivity analysis ensures that the NC COAs do not become isolated islands of conservation, but instead provide opportunities for species movement. This approach is consistent with methods used by neighboring states, as South Carolina and Georgia are also using the Blueprint connectivity analysis to inform their 2025 SWAP COAs. Using additional Blueprint priority areas further augments the SGCN cores to ensure better representation across multiple habitats, to achieve a balanced portfolio of COAs across the ecoregions within the state, and to represent key areas that may have not been surveyed by the NC Natural Heritage Program. Because the Blueprint serves as a climate adaptation strategy, incorporating the Blueprint priorities also helps the COAs become more resilient to climate change impacts now and in the future. In particular, two of the underlying Blueprint indicators--resilient terrestrial sites and resilient coastal sites--capture places with the
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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