Like all other components of the SWAP, COAs provide a non-regulatory tool to help focus and prioritize conservation action implementation to locations where conservation practitioners may maximize opportunities to prevent future listings of species and promote recovery of species that have already been listed. This landscape-level view of high biodiversity areas within New Mexico is not intended as a substitute for individual project decisions or to preclude the need for site-specific assessments that may be considered in funding decisions by the Department and other natural-resource managers. However, COAs can serve a vital function in prioritizing wildlife- and habitat-restoration efforts to address the most critical wildlife needs within the State.