The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 introduced a statutory duty on local authorities and Conservation Boards to produce a management plan for an AONB. The plan contains policies and actions to conserve the natural beauty of the AONB and to help everyone enjoy it.

The Chilterns AONB Management Plan 2008 – 2013: A Framework for Action was produced by the Chilterns Conservation Board following a review of the 2002 – 2007 Plan and wide public consultation. It contains a comprehensive summary of the key issues facing the AONB and the management actions needed to conserve this special place.

The delivery of the Management Plan actions is not the responsibility of the Conservation Board alone. The involvement of a wide range of organisations is essential in achieving the Plan’s aims over the next five years and the key organisations are identified in the accompanying Delivery Plan.

You can download the entire Plan or individual chapters.

• Management Plan (5 MB)
• Foreword, Vision, Introduction (1.16 MB)
• Landscape (554 KB)
• Farming and forestry (1.43 MB)
• Biodiversity (702 KB)
• Water environment (633 KB)
• Historic environment (687 KB)
• Development (463 KB)
• Understanding and enjoyment (729 KB)
• Social and economic well-being (307 KB)
• Climate change (193 KB)
• Cross-cutting themes & Implementation and monitoring (510 KB)

• Delivery Plan (587 KB)

In compliance with EU regulations a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the impacts of the Plan upon the Chilterns AONB was carried out and the resulting Environmental Report can be downloaded here. A screening report on the impact of the Plan upon the Special Areas of Conservation within the AONB was also prepared.

• SEA Environmental Report (1.34 MB)
• Non-technical summary (217 KB)
• Screening report (2.76 MB)
• Screening Report Appendix 1 (1.34 MB)

The AONB Management Plan includes 20 headline indicators which between them provide an insight into the environmental condition of the AONB. These indicators form a baseline for monitoring future trends in condition, and will be used to inform future management of the area. They range from biodiversity indicators such as the number of water voles to measures of visitor satisfaction on rights of way and the number of Scheduled Ancient Monuments at risk.

A State of the Chilterns Environment Report will be produced on an annual basis during the life of the current Management Plan, using data collected for the indicators, to provide an up-to-date picture of the state of the Chilterns.

Download the current Report here:

• State of the Environment Report 2009 (4.33 MB)