FAQs

National Landscapes are areas designated for protection under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CROW 2000) thanks to their unique natural and cultural heritage. The CROW Act sets out management requirements to conserve and enhance their natural beauty. Until November 2023, National Landscapes were known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and this remains their legal designation.

There are 46 National Landscapes in total: 34 in England, 5 in Wales, and 8 in Northern Ireland. One of the landscapes, Wye Valley, has both English and Welsh footprints – hence a total of 46 landscapes. There are additional candidate National Landscapes currently under assessment.

Stretching from the Northumberland Coast to the Isle of Wight, across to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, up to Anglesey and over the water to Strangford Lough, the National Landscapes cover areas throughout the UK (apart from Scotland). Check out the map.

66% of people in England live within 30 minutes of a National Landscape. They cover 15% of the land in England and 20% of its coastline, 4% of the land in Wales, and almost 1⁄4 of the land in Northern Ireland.

The first AONBs to be designated were the Quantock Hills and Gower back in 1956. These were swiftly followed by the Llŷn peninsula, Surrey Hills, Shropshire Hills, Northumberland Coast, Malvern Hills, Dorset, Cornwall, and Cannock Chase before 1960. No National Landscapes have been designated since the early 1990s, although some are currently being considered.

Both are designated by the government in the nation’s interest. National Landscapes are legally obligated to preserve and enhance natural beauty, whereas National Parks are also obligated to promote understanding and enjoyment of the areas by the public. In practice, this is something National Landscapes also do.

Unlike National Park Authorities, National Landscapes teams do not have planning powers, but they are often consulted in planning applications.

National Parks and National Landscapes today work closely together to bridge the gaps between protected landscapes and expand their nature recovery and engagement work.

Each National Landscape operates differently depending on its host authority. Many are hosted by their local councils, some operate as conservation boards, and many have Joint Advisory Committees with multiple stakeholders and more than one host authority. Partnerships are at the core of National Landscape operations and teams manage these relationships locally.

The National Landscapes receive core funding from the government to cover some of their operating needs. They subsidise this funding by applying for additional grants and schemes so they can expand the reach and impact of their work. This is typical of environmental NGOs.

Many National Landscapes are already working with corporate partners where nature-based solutions either benefit their business, help them to meet their environmental obligations, or both. This approach helps to ensure long-term security and project success for people, nature and business.

The National Landscapes Association is the national voice for all 46 National Landscapes.

We support the network by fostering greater collaboration and unlocking progress towards a shared vision.

We do this through our four-point mission:

1. Make beautiful landscapes better

2. Champion beauty in people’s lives

3. Empower people to have a stake in beauty

4. Equip powerful coalitions to deliver

Find out more about our charity, its strategy and management plan here.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) use natural systems and methods to solve social and economic problems. By focusing on nature-based systems rather than something artificial, the benefits often compound and exceed the original scope of the project for years to come.

Here’s a real-life example. Chris Jones of Woodland Valley Farm in Cornwall wanted to find a solution to the frequent flooding of Ladock, a village downstream from his land. Together with the University of Exeter and Beaver Trust, Chris introduced beavers into an enclosure upstream from the village.

By building their leaky dams, beavers don't just slow the flow of water and help to prevent flooding. Their dams also filter the water and improve its quality, the wetland captures huge amounts of carbon, they provide new habitats for other beneficial plant and wildlife species, and they protect us against drought. 

The Cornwall Beaver Project is ongoing and welcomes visitors to see the beavers up close and learn about them, providing important public engagement to boot.

This is just one example of how NbS interventions can offer more than the original scope of the project and benefit nature, people, and place together.

This depends on the NbS intervention. The best interventions will deliver maximum environmental and socio-economic gains with minimal trade-offs (which can be a complicated thing to achieve).

When it comes to designing effective NbS interventions, teams will take numerous factors into account and either use or collect baseline data to ensure the effects can be tracked.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) aim to protect and restore nature as well as solve complex problems for people too.

Where conservation projects may look to conserve a particular species or habitat, NbS tends to take a systems approach.

This can have a greater compound impact on connected species, habitats, and communities. Conservation is just one benefit of an NbS approach.

Yes, businesses can benefit from nature-based solutions interventions both directly and indirectly.

The global case: Nature underpins all economic activity and is estimated to be worth at least around $125 trillion to the global economy (source). It is so fundamental, in fact, that the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has developed a metric for valuing nature that goes beyond a dollar sign and includes its value to people more generally – NCP (Nature’s Contribution to People).

This metric aims to take into consideration things like the knowledge of local and indigenous communities around nature resilience and restoration so that it can be properly valued and utilised in policy-making.

The local case: Natural disasters and resource depletion directly threaten businesses of all shapes and sizes, and the chances are that these events will increase in the coming years. From severe weather to rising costs, it is in the best interests of businesses everywhere to fully understand their impacts, risks, and opportunities related to nature and the environment.

By understanding where they are most vulnerable, businesses can pinpoint the best interventions to protect their operations for the future.

Learn about how the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures can help your business do this.

Effective NbS interventions are highly context-specific so there is no blueprint or price list for this type of activity.

Budgets vary dramatically between landscapes and projects, as do the opportunities to increase funding and lower costs. For example, if an intervention boosts or produces ecosystem services like carbon sequestration, this might be eligible for sale in a few years’ time to recoup some of the upfront financing.

There are often opportunities to partner with other stakeholders that will benefit from the intervention too, and this is where we can leverage our expansive network to maximise impact and economies of scale.