Nature in Asturias. Somiedo Natural Park

The Somiedo Natural Park covers five valleys: Saliencia, Valle del Lago, Puerto y Pola de Somiedo, Perlunes and Pigüeña, and its five rivers with which they share their names, covering an area of 283 square kilometres.

Man has been able to understand the nature of the Park and it has returned his care, remaining almost unchanged over the centuries, being, even today, an example of coexistence and complete integration.

Of its landscape, the beauty of the lakes, located in the south of the council of Somiedo, at the top of the Cordilleras that separate Somiedo from León, stands out: the three small lakes of Saliencia; the Lago del Valle, with its characteristic islet, which is the largest lake in Asturias, with an average radius of 280 metres and an average depth of 10 metres, although in some areas it reaches 50 metres; and the hidden Lagunas de El Páramo, between the valleys of the Somiedo and Pigüeña rivers.

It is one of the most rugged landscapes in Asturias, with slopes ranging from 400 to 2,200 metres. The complex has valuable geological features, due to its wide variety of materials: limestone, siliceous, sandstone..., which produce spectacular karst forms. Valleys sprinkled with minerals such as iron, arsenic, mercury, lead, marble and granite deposits. An area of contrasts between peaks and depressions, showing the mark of the tectonic movements suffered in its numerous thrusts, faults and folds.

Throughout its entire length, there are brañas with fertile pastures where you can see, not without difficulty, the famous "cabanas" of "teito de escoba" (a kind of broom tree): huts made of stone and roofs of broom and broom and fir trees, used by the vaqueiros de alzada and the mountain livestock farmers as a refuge. There are currently more than 500 huts distributed throughout the park. The surrounding area is still used today for the movement of cattle in search of the best pastures.

Average annual temperatures in the area are around 9°C in the valley bottoms, while at higher altitudes, this parameter decreases at a rate of approximately 0.5°C per 100 metres. Snowfall is frequent in the winter months above 1,200 metres; the coldest months are January and February, and the warmest months are January and February, July, August and September, and there is a considerable difference in temperature between the two periods, a typical feature of a continental climate.

It was the first of the Principality's areas to be declared a Natural Park. This decision was intended to achieve, among other objectives, the conservation of their ecosystems, habitats and species; to improve the lives of its inhabitants, and to maintain the ethnographic heritage and agricultural activity compatible with its conservation. The passage of time has shown that these objectives have been achieved.

In Somiedo Natural Park, dogs must be under the effective control of their owner (preferably kept on a lead), except for herd guarding dogs, hunting dogs and guide dogs.

The Natural Park of Somiedo was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 2000.

Plant life

Much of the area is covered by different types of forests, scrubland, high mountain meadows, pasture on the lower slopes and arable land in perfect harmony with the surrounding environment. The main forest area is in the Saliencia Valley, on the slopes of El Coto and in the Pigüeña Valley. The forests are mainly deciduous, although there are a few enclaves with holm oaks in lower areas.

The forests occupying a greater extension include beech forests, followed by pedunculate oak, holm oak and birch.

Different types of azonal vegetation are also located here, as well as peat bogs of great interest. A feature of these woods is the considerable density of shrub, pointing to the minimal degradation of the environment.

It is also a place that abounds in exquisite plant life, represented by bearberry, asphodel, yellow and blue wolfsbane and "wind herb" (Phlomis herba-venti). The most outstanding typical flower in Somiedo is Centaurium somedanum.

The quality of the water of rivers has given rise to the formation of surprising riverbank forests, endowed with an exceptional ecosystem encompassing the riparian and terrestrial forest.

Wildlife

The park is home to over 100 species of birds - the common blackbird, grey wagtail, kingfisher, etc. -, some living along the banks of the rivers bubbling with the sound of trout, which are abundant in this area. In the peaks and highlands of Somiedo, the outstanding species are capercaillie and golden eagles.

Somiedo is also home to all the large mammals of this mountain range, the presence of brown bears being of special relevance. Predators, such as wolves and foxes, and other carnivores, such as otters, badgers and wild cats, share the territory, even to the lower areas of the rivers, with capercaillie and about 20 species of amphibians and reptiles, among which the gold-striped salamander, Iberian newt and Seoane viper stand out.