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Biosphere Reserve of Babia

Cabrillanes, La Montaña de Luna, León

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 2 Nature · 2 Curiosities

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Biosphere Reserve of Babia

Nature · Cabrillanes, La Montaña de Luna, León

Unesco declared Babia a biosphere reserve in 2004 for the value of its upland pastures and its mosaic of meadows and mountains, a landscape shaped by centuries of transhumant livestock farming and summer grazing. It covers 38,018 hectares of the municipalities of Cabrillanes and San Emiliano (La Montaña de Luna, León), between a line of peaks that to the north rises above 2,000 metres, such as Peña Ubiña, and the peak of La Cañada (2,154 m) to the south. Extensive livestock farming has shaped its flora, with endemic species exclusive to the region such as Saxifraga babiana, and its fauna notably includes the brown bear, endangered, the grey partridge and the piornal hare. Around 1,666 people live there year-round, spread across 28 settlements, the largest of them Piedrafita de Babia.

Photo: Luis Rogelio HM (CC BY-SA 2.0)

What to see and do in Cabrillanes