National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the UK

The National Parks (Welsh: Parciau Cenedlaethol, Scottish Gaelic: Pàircan Nàiseanta) of the United Kingdom are to be found primarily in England and Wales; two recent additions exist in Scotland. There are as yet no National Parks in Northern Ireland.

Slightly less strict designations also exist, the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the National Scenic Area in Scotland.

Understand

Each park is operated by its own National Park Authority, with two "statutory purposes":

• to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area, and
• to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the park's special qualities by the public.

Despite the name, National Parks in the UK are quite different from those in many other countries, where National Parks are owned and managed by the government as a protected community resource, and permanent human communities are not a part of the landscape. In the UK, National Parks can include substantial towns and villages, and land uses such as farming and forestry which are often integral parts of the landscape. Land within a National Park remains largely in private ownership, and so land access is usually subject to the same restrictions as elsewhere in the country.

National Parks in the UK have no admission changes, and there may only be a road sign to indicate that you are entering a park.

National Parks

England

• The Broads - a large wetland area, one of the best spots for both birdwatching and inland watersports in the country.
• Dartmoor - an area of upland famous for its myths and legends both 'real' and fictional: Dartmoor was the setting for Sherlock Holmes' most famous case, The Hound of the Baskervilles
• Exmoor - Devonian moorland meets sea, in a misty northern alternative to Dartmoor
• Lake District - home to all of England's tallest mountains, it's largest lake, and William Wordsworth
• New Forest - planted by William the Conqueror for hunting purposes, the New Forest now hosts wildlife both common - deer, the famous ponies - and rare - the Dartford Warbler and (possibly) Europe's most northerly cicada
• Northumberland
• North York Moors
• Peak District
• The South Downs - England's newest National Park, designated on 1 April 2011
• Yorkshire Dales

Wales

• Brecon Beacons (Welsh: Bannau Brycheiniog)
• Pembrokeshire Coast (Welsh: Arfordir Penfro)
• Snowdonia (Welsh: Eryri)

Scotland

• Loch Lomond and The Trossachs
• The Cairngorms

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the United Kingdom are currently 41 defined areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, designated originally by the Countryside Agency, on behalf of the government. The equivalent in Scotland is the National Scenic Area. Natural England was set up in 2006 to succeed the Countryside Agency in England, and is a government body responsible for the protection and improvement of the natural environment in England.

England
Arnside and Silverdale Blackdown Hills Cannock Chase Chichester Harbour Chilterns Cornwall Cotswolds Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Dedham Vale Dorset East Devon Forest of Bowland High Weald of which Ashdown Forest is a part Howardian Hills Isle of Wight Isles of Scilly Kent Downs Lincolnshire Wolds	Malvern Hills Mendip Hills Nidderdale Norfolk Coast North Devon North Pennines Northumberland Coast North Wessex Downs Quantock Hills Shropshire Hills Solway Coast South Devon Suffolk Coast and Heaths Surrey Hills Tamar Valley Wye Valley
Wales
Anglesey Clwydian Range and Dee Valley	Gower	Lleyn Wye Valley
Northern Ireland
Antrim Coast and Glens Causeway Coast Lagan Valley Lecale Coast Mourne	Binevenagh Ring of Gullion Sperrin Strangford Lough

National Scenic Areas

National Scenic Area (NSA) is a national landscape designation applied in Scotland. Currently there are 40 designated NSA's. They are considered of national importance based on their outstanding scenic landscapes. National Scenic area is equivalent to the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designation which is used in the other countries of the UK. Since 2003, the superior National Park designation has been introduced. There are currently 2 National Parks in Scotland.

Aberdeenshire

• Deeside and Lochnagar

Argyll and Bute

Jura Knapdale Kyles of Bute Loch Lomond - now part of a National Park along with The Trossachs.

Loch na Keal, Isle of Mull Lynn of Lorn Scarba, Lunga and the Garvellachs

Dumfries and Galloway

East Stewartry Coast Fleet Valley

Nith Estuary

Highland

Assynt - Coigach Ben Nevis and Glen Coe Dornoch Firth Glen Affric Glen Strathfarrar Kintail Knoydart Kyle of Tongue

Loch Shiel Morar, Moidart and Ardnamurchan North West Sutherland The Cairngorm Mountains - now a National Park The Cuillin Hills The Small Isles Trotternish Wester Ross

North Ayrshire

• North Arran

Orkney Islands

• Hoy and West Mainland

Perthshire and Kinross

Loch Rannoch and Glen Lyon Loch Tummel

River Earn (Comrie to St. Fillans) River Tay (Dunkeld)

Shetland Isles

• Shetland

Stirling

• The Trossachs - now part of a National Park along with Loch Lomond.

Borders

Eildon and Leaderfoot

Upper Tweeddale

Western Isles

South Lewis, Harris and North Uist South Uist Machair

St Kilda