The North Carolina Natural Heritage Program's Natural Areas are terrestrial and aquatic areas that are of special biodiversity significance. A Natural Area's significance may be due to the presence of rare species, high-quality natural communities, important animal assemblages, or other ecological features, collectively known as “Elements” of biodiversity. The North Carolina Natural Heritage Program (NCNHP) identifies and inventories these areas, evaluates and assigns conservation priority ratings to the Natural Areas based on the biodiversity within them, and works with many partners to implement voluntary protection for them. The Natural Area boundaries are drawn by NCNHP staff, based on field surveys, and are ecological in nature.

Many of the Natural Areas are on private land and are not open to the public. Written permission should be obtained from all appropriate landowners before visiting any of these sites.