The national parks of Wales () are managed areas of outstanding landscape in Wales, United Kingdom where some forms of development are restricted to preserve the landscape and natural environment. Together, they cover 20% of the land surface of Wales and have a resident population of over 80,000 people. Each National Park Authority is a free-standing body within the local government framework. At present, Wales has three national parks: Snowdonia, created in 1951, Pembrokeshire Coast (1952) and Brecon Beacons National Park (1957), and five areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB), which together form the Protected areas of Wales. One of the AONBs, the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley has been proposed to be Wales' fourth national park. The three National Park Authorities work in partnership as 'National Parks Wales' (NPW) which promotes their purposes and interests. NPW identifies issues of joint interest and a way of agreeing outputs. Information and experiences are shared by NPW between all people concerned with the three National Parks. Land within these areas remains largely in private ownership; these parks are not truly national parks according to the internationally accepted standard of the IUCN but they are areas of outstanding landscape where habitation and commercial activities are restricted. National Parks are "national" as they are thought to be of special value to the whole nation. The Environment Act 1995 notes that the National Parks of Wales have two purposes: To conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Parks; and To promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities (of the Park) by the public Administration Following the Environment Act 1995, each national park has been managed by its own national park authority, a special purpose local authority, since April 1997. Around half the members of each national park authority are appointees from the principal local authorities covered by the park; the remainder are appointed by the Senedd, some to represent the community councils, others selected to represent the "national interest". The National Park Authority is also the sole local planning authority for the park. Together the national parks are visited by an estimated 12 million people each year and almost three quarters of the population of Wales visit the Parks each year. The parks Snowdonia Formed in 1951, Snowdonia is the largest national park in Wales, and includes the highest mountain in Ireland, England and Wales,