Fuentes Del Narcea, Degaña E Ibias Natural Park
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Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias Natural Park () is a natural park in the
Principality of Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
in northern
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. It protects a natural landscape at the sources of the rivers Narcea and
Ibias Ibias is a municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias, Spain. As of 2023, its population was 1,121. It shares its name with the river Ibias, which flows through the municipality. Its capital and largest parish is San Antolín; it is ...
. It is located within the municipalities of
Cangas del Narcea Cangas del Narcea is the oldest municipality in the Principality of Asturias in Spain. It is also the largest municipality in Asturias. It is in the southwest of Asturias, on the Asturian border with León. Until 1927, Cangas del Narcea was kno ...
,
Degaña Degaña is a municipality in the autonomous community of the Asturias, Spain. As of 2023, the population stood at 805. It is located in the Cantabrian Mountains, and bordered on the north by Cangas del Narcea, on the south by Castile and León, a ...
and
Ibias Ibias is a municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias, Spain. As of 2023, its population was 1,121. It shares its name with the river Ibias, which flows through the municipality. Its capital and largest parish is San Antolín; it is ...
. The park was designated in 2002 and incorporated the preexisting Muniellos
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, funga, or features of geologic ...
, which was extended in 2003.


Muniellos nature reserve and Muniellos biosphere reserve

The heart of the natural park is the Muniellos nature reserve (area 5,488 ha), where human access is strictly controlled and where timber extraction has been forbidden since 1970. In 2000 UNESCO designated Muniellos as a biosphere reserve, the area of which was extended in 2003 to take account of the creation of the natural park. The core area of the Muniellos biosphere reserve occupies 8,661 ha with the rest of the natural park being regarded as a buffer zone. In the early years of the twenty-first century there has discussion of how the various biosphere reserves in the
Cantabrian Mountains The Cantabrian Mountains or Cantabrian Range () are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. They stretch for over 300 km (180 miles) across northern Spain, from the western limit of the Pyrenees to the Galician Massif ...
should be managed as a single super-reserve to be known as ''Gran Cantábrica''. This integration is expected to benefit animals which live in the mountains, such as the endangered
Cantabrian brown bear The Cantabrian brown bear, Iberian brown bear, or Iberian bear (formerly ''Ursus arctos pyrenaicus'') is a population of Eurasian brown bears (''Ursus arctos arctos'') living in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain. In Spain, it is known as the an ...
which needs to extend its range in order to build a sustainable population.


Conservation issues

The designation of the natural park met with some local opposition on the grounds that it was detrimental to the interests of property owners (most of the park being private property). However, a management plan for the park was approved in 2006. Traditional agriculture is carried out in some areas of the park. Although thousands of people live in the protected area, most of the park is sparsely populated and environmental problems are mainly related to mining activity.


Fauna

Within the natural park the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
has designated two
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 cer ...
s for bird-life, a smaller one, ''Bosque de Muniellos'' (5,500 ha), and a larger one, ''Fuentes del Narcea y del Ibias'' (51,000 ha), which covers the remaining part of park. Birds of interest include the Cantabrian Capercaillie, a subspecies of the Western Capercaillie, which requires mature woodland to thrive. Both SPAs have also been designated as
Special Areas 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 ...
. The park provides a habitat for the
Cantabrian brown bear The Cantabrian brown bear, Iberian brown bear, or Iberian bear (formerly ''Ursus arctos pyrenaicus'') is a population of Eurasian brown bears (''Ursus arctos arctos'') living in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain. In Spain, it is known as the an ...
.


Places of interest

The following list of buildings is in the
Asturian language Asturian (; )Art. 1 de lLey 1/1998, de 23 de marzo, de uso y promoción del bable/asturiano aw 1/93, of March 23, on the Use and Promotion of the Asturian Language/nowiki> is a West Iberian languages, West Iberian Romance languages, Roman ...
: * ''Aldega de Cecos'' * ''Bodegues del Narcea'' * ''Cascu hestóricu de Cangas del Narcea'' (Historic centre of
Cangas del Narcea Cangas del Narcea is the oldest municipality in the Principality of Asturias in Spain. It is also the largest municipality in Asturias. It is in the southwest of Asturias, on the Asturian border with León. Until 1927, Cangas del Narcea was kno ...
) * ''Centru d'Enterretación de Muniellos'' * ''Colleición Museográfica del Tixileiru'' * ''Monasteriu de Corias'': The Monastery of St John the Baptist, Corias, houses the park's interpretation centre.Casa del Parque Natural de las Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias
/ref> * ''Antigu pueblu y mines d'oru romanes de El Corralín'' (Roman gold-mines) * ''Museo Etnográficu del Vinu - Llagar de Santiso'' * ''
Palloza A palloza (also known as pallouza or pallaza) is a traditional dwelling of the Serra dos Ancares of northwest Spain. Structure A palloza is a traditional thatched house as found in Leonese county of El Bierzo, Serra dos Ancares in Galicia, an ...
de San Antolín'' * ''Pueblu de Besullu'' * ''Pueblu de Riodeporcos''


References


External links


Park's tourist website


{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuentes Del Narcea, Degana and Ibias, Natural Park of Protected areas of Asturias Biosphere reserves of Spain Natural parks of Spain Special Protection Areas of Spain Protected areas established in 2002 Special Areas of Conservation in Spain Cantabrian Mountains 2002 establishments in Spain Natural parks of Asturias