World Context

AONBs are ‘Protected Landscapes’ – along with UK National Parks – in the world scale of landscape and environmental protection.

Our AONB is part of a global family of 6,555 protected areas, covering 12% of the earths surface

These are overseen by the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) adminstered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN has defined a series of six protected area managment catagories and all AONBs in the UK as defined as Catageory V protected landscapes

The national parks of many other nations are strictly protected areas with minimal human intervention.

In contrast AONBs are living and working landscapes where human activities are part of everyday life; villages thrive, the land is farmed, foresters are active, and people enjoy all aspects of the countryside.