The designation of protected areas in the UK was made possible by the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. The Act set out how land could be designated as:
Cairngorms National Park | 452.800 ha | ||
Lake District national park | 229.200 ha | ||
New Forest National Park | 5.665.100 ha | ||
Peak District national park | 143.800 ha | ||
South Downs National Park | 164.800 ha | ||
Brecon Beacons National Park | 134.680 ha | ||
Broads national park | 30.300 ha | ||
Dartmoor National Park | 95.400 ha | ||
Exmoor National Park | 69.280 ha | ||
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park | 186.500 ha | ||
North York Moors National Park | 143.600 ha | ||
Northumberland National Park | 104.900 ha | ||
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park | 62.900 ha | ||
Snowdonia National Park | 213.157 ha | ||
Yorkshire Dales National Park | 176.200 ha |