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A conservation area is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded. A conservation area may be a nature reserve, a park, a land reclamation project, or other area.

In the United Kingdom, the term Conservation Area nearly always applies to an area (usually urban) considered worthy of preservation or enhancement because of its special architectural or historic interest, "the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance," as required by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (Section 69 and 70). More than 8000 have been designated.

In conservation areas, it is the protection of the quality and special interest of the neighbourhood or area as a whole that is intended, rather than specific buildings. For example, the layout of boundaries, roads, vistas and viewpoints, trees and green features, street furniture and surfaces, the characteristic building materials of the area, the mix of different uses, and the design of shop fronts may all be taken into account when deciding whether an area has a particular special architectural or historic interest. It is the role of the listed building process to protect individual buildings, although it is common for many listed buildings to also be located within designated conservation areas where those individual buildings make a contribution to the special architectural or historic character of the area.

Current Government planning policy on Conservation Areas is laid down in (for England) Planning Policy Guidance Note 15: Planning and the Historic Environment (PPG15), Section 4 and (for Wales) Welsh Office Circular 61/96 - Planning and the Historic Environment: Historic Buildings and Conservation Areas.

There are additional planning controls over certain works carried out within the Conservation Area. For example, demolition within Conservation Areas requires consent. The designation does not preclude development from taking place, but does require that developments preserve or enhance the historic character of the area, for example by ensuring that newly constructed buildings are of a high quality design. Conservation Area status also removes some permitted development rights that apply in undesignated areas.

In India, the term Conservation Area denotes a large demarcated geographical entity where landscape conservation is ongoing under a well-defined plan, usually containing other protected areas inside it. See: Conservation areas of India

In Ontario, Canada, conservation areas are areas of land (usually in rural settings) set aside for resource management, recreation, and educational purposes. They are managed by conservation authorities.

• List of conservation areas in the United Kingdom
• Conservation Authority
• Special Area of Conservation
• Conservation designation
• Listed building
• Conservation Authority
• Article Four Direction
• Zoo
• Fossil Park

• Planning Policy Guidance Note 15: Planning and the Historic Environment

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