Natural Park of Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña, and Ibias

Historia

The Natural Park of Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña e Ibias is a natural park in the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It protects a natural landscape at the sources of the rivers Narcea and Ibias. It is located within the municipalities of Cangas del Narcea, Degaña and Ibias. The park was designated in 2002 and incorporated the preexisting Muniellos biosphere reserve, which was extended in 2003.Muniellos nature reserve and Muniellos biosphere reserveThe heart of the natural park is the Muniellos nature reserve, 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 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 which needs to extend its range in order to build a sustainable population.Conservation issuesThe designation of the natural park met with some local opposition on the grounds that it was detrimental to the interests of property owners . However, a management plan for the park was approved in 2006.