Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias Natural Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias Natural Park |
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| Parque Natural de las Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias | |
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IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
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River Muniellos
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| Location | Asturias |
| Area | 47.589 ha |
| Established | 2002 |
| Governing body | Principality of Asturias |
The Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Natural de las Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias) is a special protected area in northern Spain. It is located in Asturias, a region known for its beautiful nature. This park helps protect the areas where the Narcea and Ibias rivers begin. It covers parts of the towns of Cangas del Narcea, Degaña, and Ibias. The park was officially created in 2002. It also includes the older Muniellos biosphere reserve, which was made even bigger in 2003.
Contents
Muniellos Nature Reserve: A Special Protected Area
The most important part of the natural park is the Muniellos nature reserve. This area is about 5,488 hectares big. People cannot easily enter this reserve. Also, cutting down trees for wood has been stopped here since 1970.
In 2000, UNESCO named Muniellos a biosphere reserve. This means it is a place where nature is protected, and people live in a way that respects the environment. The main protected area of Muniellos is 8,661 hectares. The rest of the natural park acts as a buffer zone around it.
Protecting Animals in the Cantabrian Mountains
In recent years, there have been talks about connecting different biosphere reserves. These reserves are all found in the Cantabrian Mountains. The idea is to create a very large protected area called Gran Cantábrica. This would help animals like the Cantabrian brown bear. These bears are endangered, meaning there are not many left. A larger protected area would give them more space to live and grow their population.
Protecting the Park: Challenges and Solutions
When the natural park was first created, some local people were not happy. They worried it would affect their land, as much of the park is privately owned. However, a plan for managing the park was approved in 2006.
Some traditional farming still happens in parts of the park. Thousands of people live in this protected area. But most of the park has very few people. Environmental problems here are mostly linked to mining activities.
Wildlife in the Park
The European Union has named two special areas in the park for bird protection. One is smaller, called Bosque de Muniellos (5,500 hectares). The other is larger, called Fuentes del Narcea y del Ibias (51,000 hectares). This larger area covers most of the park.
An interesting bird found here is the Cantabrian Capercaillie. This bird is a type of Western Capercaillie. It needs old, healthy forests to live and thrive.
Both of these bird protection areas are also known as Special Areas of Conservation. This means they are important for protecting different types of habitats and species. The park is a very important home for the Cantabrian brown bear.
Interesting Places to Visit
The park has several interesting places to see. Here are some of them:
- Aldega de Cecos
- Bodegues del Narcea
- Cascu hestóricu de Cangas del Narcea (Historic center of Cangas del Narcea)
- Centru d'Enterretación de Muniellos (Muniellos Interpretation Center)
- Colleición Museográfica del Tixileiru
- Monasteriu de Corias: The Monastery of St John the Baptist in Corias has the park's main visitor center.
- Antigu pueblu y mines d'oru romanes de El Corralín (Old village and Roman gold mines)
- Museo Etnográficu del Vinu - Llagar de Santiso (Ethnographic Wine Museum)
- Palloza de San Antolín
- Pueblu de Besullu
- Pueblu de Riodeporcos
See also
In Spanish: Parque natural de las Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias para niños
