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United Kingdom national parks

The National Parks (Welsh: Parciau Cenedlaethol, Scottish Gaelic: Pàircan Nàiseanta) of the United Kingdom are to be found in England, Scotland, and Wales. There are no national parks in Northern Ireland.

Lesser designations also exist: the National Landscapes of England and Wales, the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty of Northern Ireland, and the National Scenic Areas of 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 land access is usually subject to the same restrictions as elsewhere in the country, but access facilities (gates and signs etc) are often better inside the park.

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

National parks
The United Kingdom has 15 national parks; of these, 10 are in England, 3 in Wales, and 2 in Scotland:

National Landscapes and National Scenic Areas

National Landscapes are 41 government-defined areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Until 2024, all National Landscapes were known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), but this name is now only used in Northern Ireland.

The equivalent in Scotland is the National Scenic Area (NSA), designated on behalf of the Scottish Government. There are 40 designated NSAs.

title: United Kingdom national parks


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United Nations

The United Nations (UN) is an international organization aimed at facilitating co-operation between the world's countries on a wide variety of topics. This travel topic covers the variety of interesting UN headquarters and sights all over the globe.

Understand
The United Nations was founded in the aftermath of World War II by the victorious powers, as a de facto replacement of the League of Nations, which had been founded after World War I with initially a much broader mission, but failed due to, among other things, its less than universal membership (the U.S. never joined, Germany, Japan and the Soviet Union left or were expelled in the 1930s). The UN's structure and bylaws still reflect that fact, as is evidenced by their seat in New York, and the composition of the Security Council (whose permanent members were World War II allies — the U.S., Russia, China, France and the U.K. — but are now often at loggerheads).

Most countries have some presence at the UN, even if they have relatively little other diplomatic presence abroad. Many UN agencies operate behind the scenes to establish global standards (such as the International Civil Aeronautics Organisation for passports, the Universal Postal Union for postal service or the World Health Organization for public health) which affect travel and communication worldwide.

UNESCO, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, maintains the UNESCO World Heritage List of more than a thousand global destinations, along with lists of creative cities and intangible cultural heritage.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: United Nations


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United States National Park System

The United States has an extensive series of national parks, national monuments, national historic sites, national recreational areas, national preserves, and so on, which encompass some of the most spectacular landscapes and evocative landmarks in the country. Preserving much of the nation's scenic and cultural heritage, the vast National Parks System includes icons of American patriotism such as the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore, natural wonders like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite Valley, historic treasures like the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, geological curiosities such as the geysers of Yellowstone and the volcanoes of Hawaii, and memorials to the great and to the fallen of America's past.

Understand
"For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People."

- Inscription on Roosevelt Arch, Yellowstone National Park

The National Park System incorporates hundreds of units spread across every state in the union as well as several U.S. territories. National Park System units are administered by the National Park Service (NPS), although there are also several monuments and other sites that are a managed by other government agencies. These are indicated in the listings below by the following acronyms:

 * BLM — Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior.
 * COE — United States Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of the Army.
 * FWS — Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
 * NOAA — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
 * USFS — United States Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Save for the smallest of sites, nearly all NPS units have a visitor center located near the primary entrances, where you can view exhibits about the park, ask a park ranger any questions you might have, purchase souvenirs, and pick up a map or trail guide. If you plan to camp in a park, the visitor center is often a required stop to pay camping fees or collect your permit. Park units administered by agencies other than the NPS, such as the BLM or the USFS, will sometimes also have visitor centers, although visitor facilities at these parks tend to be less developed than their NPS counterparts.

Park rangers regularly offer guided tours, nature walks, or campfire talks where they educate visitors about the park; information about these activities will usually be posted at the visitor center or campgrounds. At any NPS site, you can purchase a "passport book," which you can use to collect commemorative stamps from each park you visit. Many of the parks also have a Junior Ranger program, a learning activity for youth where children can complete an activity sheet (available at the visitor center) and return it to a park ranger in order to receive a badge or certificate.

Among the hundreds of park system units are several designations (parks, monuments, historic sites, etc.), but the designations for individual units are mostly technical and relate more to the focus of the individual unit than to the visitor experience, which is remarkably consistent across the units administered by the NPS.

 * National parks are the crown jewels of the system, designed to preserve the most striking natural wonders in the country.
 * National monuments are more numerous, and because they can be established by simple presidential decree, are more varied in their purpose, covering everything from scenic wonders to areas of significant historic or cultural importance.
 * Various other natural areas include National Preserves, National Seashores, National Lakeshores, and National Rivers. National Recreation Areas are intended less for environmental protection and focus on offering recreational opportunities in certain scenic areas
 * Important historic areas include National Historical Parks, National Historic Sites, National Battlefields, and National Military Parks. National Memorials pay tribute to notable American figures or events.
 * United States National Parkways are scenic roadways.

Lastly, the NPS, along with the BLM and the USFS, also maintain a series of National Historic and Scenic Trails that criss-cross the nation.

Besides the national parks, each state also runs its own state park system, which are often areas of outstanding natural beauty too.

Fees and permits
Entrance fees for individual parks and sites vary considerably. In general, most historic sites and memorials have free admission or charge at most a few dollars, while most parks charge anywhere from only a few dollars to $30 for some of the most famous parks. Many parks that charge admission fees charge less if you enter the park on foot, bicycle, or motorcycle than if you drive. Additionally, most parks that charge make their admission fees good for a full 7 days. Annual passes for individual parks are also available, and tend to cost between $25 and $60. See the individual park pages for detailed admission info on each park.

title: United States National Park System