Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty - Publications and products

A guide for AONB partnership members
Foreword
Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty have a special place amongst the
protected landscapes of England. Their care has been entrusted to the
local authorities, organisations, community groups and the individuals
who live and work within them: or who value them. We have relied on
them to manage those landscapes for the benefit of the nation as a
whole. It has not been easy task but the success is clear in the
outstanding quality of the countryside that makes up our AONBs: our
finest countryside.
However, since 1957 when the first English AONB was designated,
the Quantock Hills, there has been massive change in the English
countryside. New legislation, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act
2000, provides the basis for a new management framework to reflect
the current challenges.
The new management framework recognises and retains, the best of
the old system – local care. It allows those local systems and people to
further the conservation and enhancement of their AONBs. The setting
up of local partnerships, the employment of AONB staff and the
production of AONB Management Plans will allow AONBs to flourish.
These mechanisms should inspire land managers and others. In that
way our finest landscapes will not only be protected, but enhanced for
the future. They will offer opportunities for people to enjoy them and
benefit from them: environmentally, socially and economically.
This guide has been written to help AONB partnerships come
together to meet the challenges of 21st century protected landscape
management. It gives an introduction to the puposes of AONB
designation, the laws that protect them and the partnership role in
ensuring that these landscapes continue to flourish. These are
undoubtedly exiting times for AONBs: those of you involved in local
AONB partnerships have real opportunities to make a difference to our
finest countryside. Most importantly, you have the chance to deliver
real outcomes, real work on the ground and a real future for England’s
finest countryside.
Ewen Cameron
Chairman
The Countryside Agency
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