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NATURE

As the vacation experience evolves, families no longer want to spend all week basking in the summer sun on the beach. Nature-based tourism (also referred to as ecotourism or recreation-based tourism) is emerging as a popular vacation activity for many visiting Gulf Shores and Orange Beach as individuals seek out undistributed natural resources and unique outdoor activities. Some individuals prefer consumptive activities such as hunting or fishing while others choose nonconsumptive activities like bird watching or canoeing. Regardless of their preference, nature-based tourism results in increased environmental awareness while also satisfying the adventure-seeker or enabling others to reconnect with their families/friends or themselves.

Quick Facts

The Alabama’s coastal landscape offers four diverse ecosystems, all uniquely located within one area. These ecosystems include an a ncient maritime live oak forest, wet longleaf pine savanna, fresh water marsh and small stream swamp forest.

Several rare species call coastal Alabama home, such as the white topped pitcher plant, gopher tortoise, eastern diamond back rattlesnake and red-cockaded woodpecker.

Alabama ranks 4th in the nation for its diverse environment, including over 80 vertebrate animal species and 3,400 plant species that thrive in more than 280 ecosystems throughout the state. It also has more species of fish, mussels, snails and crayfish than any other state and is home to:

• 73 native amphibians (such as the rare greenhouse frog that occurs only in Baldwin and Mobile counties)
• 420 bird species (both migratory and native)
• 83 species of crayfish, which is more than any other state and two are unique to the Mobile and surrounding areas
• 62 native mammal species
• 93 native reptiles

For more information about all of Alabama’s creatures, click here.

Explore Our Great Outdoors

Visitors to the Alabama Gulf Coast will find a bounty of outdoor-related activities, such as the following items:

• Search for Flipper or other native wildlife with a dolphin or nature cruise.
• Investigate 7,000 acres of preserved coastal ecosystem at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge.
• Bring a picnic basket to enjoy the area’s selection of campgrounds and parks.
• Break out the binoculars to search for that elusive feathered friend on the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail.
• Attempt to catch your meal with surf or inshore fishing, or land a big one aboard a chartered boat.
• Learn how to “Share the Beach” with mother sea turtles.
  

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