Somiedo Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Natural de Somiedo) is a protected area located in the central area of the

Cantabrian Mountains , etymology=Named after the Cantabri , photo=Cordillera Cantábrica vista desde el Castro Valnera.jpg , photo_caption=Cantabrian Mountains parallel to the Cantabrian Sea seen from Castro Valnera in an east-west direction. In the background, th ...

in the

Principality of Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive ...

in northern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. As well as being designated a natural park, it is protected as a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

, and as one of a number of

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

s in the Cantabrian mountains.(see note) Somiedo Lago Del Valle

It covers 39,164 hectares, corresponding geographically with the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Somiedo Somiedo ( Asturian: Somiedu) is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the north by Belmonte de Miranda, on the east by Teverga, on the west by Tineo and Cangas del Narcea, and on the ...

, which is completely included in the park, as well as the municipalities of Belmonte and

Teverga Teverga ( Asturian: Teberga) is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the north by Belmonte de Miranda, Grado, Yernes y Tameza, and Proaza; to the south by León province, to the w ...

Natural monument

Lakes in the park have been designated a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, nat ...

, the ''Conjunto Lacustre de Somiedo''.

Human activity

The farming methods traditional to the area are regarded as an example of sustainable living, and were a factor in UNESCO's designation of the park as a

in 2000. Of particular interest is the ''braña'', a traditional system of livestock herding based on

transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower vall ...

, which makes use of high pastures for summer grazing. There is interest in preserving the traditional buildings of the brañas not only for farming purposes but also as a tourist attraction. UNESCO is considering the inclusion of Somiedo in a World Heritage Site, for which transhumance would be one of the defining characteristics.

Fauna

Cantabrian brown bear

The park is a stronghold of the

Cantabrian brown bear The Cantabrian brown bear, Iberian brown bear, or Iberian bear (scientifically ''Ursus arctos pyrenaicus'') is a population of Eurasian brown bears (''Ursus arctos arctos'') living in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain. On average, females weigh , ...

. In 2009 the Spanish newspaper ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' referred to Somiedo with its 30 bears as the Spanish

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

. The Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP) opened an interpretation centre in October 2011 called “Somiedo y el Oso” in Pola de Somiedo. The total number of bears in Spain is small and the government classes them as endangered. The bears' future is put at risk by fragmentation of their habitat in the Cantabrian Mountains. A need has been identified to develop

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...

s specifically for bears using appropriate vegetation and initiatives to promote co-existence with human inhabitants of the mountains. The European Union's

LIFE Programme The LIFE programme (French: L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement) is the European Union's funding instrument for the environment and climate action. The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and d ...

has provided funding for a corridor linking the natural park via Leitariegos to another area of bear habitat.

Birdlife

The European Union designated the park a

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

for birds in 1989. Birds include the

Cantabrian capercaillie The Cantabrian capercaillie (''Tetrao urogallus cantabricus'') is a subspecies of the western capercaillie in the grouse family Tetraonidae. It is one of two subspecies found in Spain. Description The capercaillie is a large grouse, in length, ...

. The number of capercaillies in the park has declined significantly, but there are efforts to reverse the decline via a recovery plan for the subspecies. The plan, which operates across a number of SPAs, has been supported by the LIFE Programme. The natural park is also part of an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

, called Babia-Somiedo.BirdLife International (2016) Important Bird and Biodiversity Area factsheet: Babia-Somiedo. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 15/07/2016

Notes

:1.The possibility of managing these biosphere reserves together as a "super-reserve" (to be called ''Gran Cantábrica'') has been under discussion: integration would benefit the management of some species of wildlife.

References

External links

Walking routes in SomiedoSomiedo Natural Park

Somiedo photo essay
{{Coord, 43, 06, N, 6, 15, W, display=title Protected areas of Asturias Natural parks of Spain Special Areas of Conservation Special Protection Areas of Spain Protected areas established in 1988 Biosphere reserves of Spain Cantabrian Mountains Natural parks of Asturias