Wales is home to three national parks. Snowdonia National Park was established in 1951 as the third National Park in Britain, following the Peak District and the Lake District. It covers, and has of coastline. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales. It was established as a National Park in 1952, and is the only one in the United Kingdom to have been designated primarily because of its spectacular coastline. It covers an area of. Brecon Beacons National Park, founded in 1957, stretching from Llandeilo in the west to Hay-on-Wye in the east, covering and encompassing four main regions – the Black Mountain in the west, Fforest Fawr and the Brecon Beacons in the centre, and the Black Mountains in the east.
Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Five areas of outstanding natural beauty have been designated in Wales, one of which, the Wye Valley AONB, straddles the Anglo-Welsh border. The Gower is a peninsula on the south west coast of Wales, on the north side of the Bristol Channel in the southwest of the historic county of Glamorgan. Referred to colloquially as 'the Gower', this was the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated as an AONB, in 1956, and covers. Llŷn is a peninsula which extends into the Irish Sea from north west Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. Much of the coastline and the ex-volcanic hills are part of the Llŷn AONB, confirming the peninsula as one of the most scientifically important in both Wales and Britain. The AONB was created in 1956, and covers. Anglesey was designated an AONB in 1966, in order to protect the aesthetic appeal and variety of the island's coastal landscape and habitats from inappropriate development. The AONB covers most of Anglesey’s coastline, as well as inland areas, such as Holyhead Mountain and Mynydd Bodafon. The AONB covers around, about a third of the county, making it Wales' largest AONB. The Wye Valley AONB, designated in 1971, is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. It is one of the most dramatic and scenic landscape areas in southern Britain. The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The upper part of the river passes through the settlements of Rhayader, Builth Wells and Hay-on-Wye, but the area designated as an AONB surrounds only the 58-mile stretch lower down the river, from just south of the city of Hereford to Chepstow. The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley is a series of hills and mountains in north east Wales that runs from Llandegla in the south to Prestatyn in the north, with the highest point being the popular Moel Famau. It was designated as an AONB in 1985. The Clwydian Range AONB was extended in 2011 to include the hills around Llangollen, including the Eglwyseg escarpment and Llantysilio Mountain, and is in extent.
Heritage Coast
There are fourteen heritage coasts in Wales. They are "stretches of outstanding, undeveloped coast in England and Wales", which are not protected by law, but are given special consideration by planning authorities. They are:
A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive, also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. They are to protect the 220 habitats and approximately 1000 species listed in annex I and II of the directive which are considered to be of European interest following criteria given in the directive. They must be chosen from the Sites of Community Importance by the State Members and designated SAC by an act assuring the conservation measures of the natural habitat.
s have their origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite of protected areas comprising national nature reserves, conservation areas, national parks, Geological Monuments, local nature reserves and local educational nature reserves. There are now 73 LNRs in Wales, covering.
