The Muniellos Nature Reserve (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Reserva natural integral de Muniellos)'' is a protected area of woodland in

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 ...

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 ...

. The area of the

nature 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 ...

is . The main species of tree is oak: it has been described as probably the best preserved

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...

forest in Spain.

History

In the 1970s timber extraction was forbidden and the woods were preserved as a hunting reserve. Hunting has since also been banned. Human access to the nature reserve itself is now strictly controlled, although there is a visitor centre overlooking it.

Biosphere reserve

In 2000 UNESCO designated Muniellos as a

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 ...

. The area of the biosphere reserve was extended in 2003 to take account of the creation of the

Natural Park of Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

, which incorporates Muniellos. The core area of the Muniellos biosphere reserve occupies , making it somewhat larger than the nature reserve. The rest of the natural park is classed as a buffer zone to the core area. As at 2011 there has been 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 ...

could be managed as a single super-reserve to be known as ''Gran Cantábrica''. The first phase of integration would include

Somiedo Natural Park Somiedo Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Natural de Somiedo) is a protected area located in the central area of the Cantabrian Mountains in the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. As well as being designated a natural park, it is protecte ...

. Other relevant reserves include

Redes Natural Park The Redes Natural Park (Spanish language, Spanish: Parque Natural de Redes) is located in the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. Its total area is , split between two municipalities: Caso, Asturias, Caso () and Sobrescobio (). It was de ...

, which is also in Asturias.

Wildlife

Wildlife includes brown bears (

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 ...

) and capercaillies ( Cantabrian capercaillie). There is also a population of the rare

Kerry slug The Kerry slug or Kerry spotted slug (''Geomalacus maculosus'') is a species of terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusc. It is a medium-to-large sized, air-breathing land slug in the Family (biology), family of roundback slugs, Arionidae. Ad ...

. The proposed integration of the biosphere reserves is expected to benefit endangered wildlife such as the Cantabrian brown bear and Cantabrian Capercaillie, by reversing

habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological proces ...

. There are recovery plans in operation for both of these animals as they need to extend their range within the Cantabrian mountains in order to build sustainable populations.Urogallo Cantábrico
www.lifeurogallo.es (a project under the auspices of the

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 ...

Special Protection Area

''Bosque de Muniellos'' (Spanish for "Muniellos Wood") is 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 cer ...

for bird-life under the European Union's

Birds Directive The Birds Directive (formally known as Council Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds) is the oldest piece of EU legislation on the environment and one of its cornerstones which was unanimously adopted in April 1979 as the Dir ...

. Muniellos has also been designated 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 ...

by Birdlife International.BirdLife International (2016) Important Bird and Biodiversity Area factsheet: Muniellos. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 16/07/2016

References

{{Authority control Nature reserves in Spain Important Bird Areas of Spain Biosphere reserves of Spain Forests of Spain Protected areas of Asturias Special Protection Areas of Spain Cantabrian Mountains Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Asturias