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 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 ...

. 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 Reserves 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 municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Somiedo, 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 t ...

Natural monument

Lakes in the park have been designated a natural monument, 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 Biosphere Reserve in 2000. Of particular interest is the ''braña'', a traditional system of livestock herding based on

transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or Nomad, 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 low ...

, 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. In 2009 the Spanish newspaper '' El País'' referred to Somiedo with its 30 bears as the Spanish

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

. 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, also known as a habitat corridor, or green corridor, is a designated area habitat (ecology), that connects wildlife populations that have been separated by human activities or structures, such as development, roads, or land ...

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 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 for birds in 1989. Birds include the Cantabrian capercaillie. 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, 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 in Spain Special Protection Areas of Spain Protected areas established in 1988 Biosphere reserves of Spain Cantabrian Mountains Natural parks of Asturias