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Biosphere Reserve of the Alto Bernesga

La Pola de Gordón, La Montaña de Luna, León

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 3 Nature · 1 Activities · 2 Food and drink

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Biosphere Reserve of the Alto Bernesga

Nature · La Pola de Gordón, La Montaña de Luna, León

The Alto Bernesga Biosphere Reserve occupies the León side of the Cantabrian Mountains and covers the upper stretch of the Bernesga valley, between 970 and 1,914 metres in altitude, with peaks such as El Cueto San Mateo and a mosaic of upland pastures, beech woods and former mining works. Unesco declared it a biosphere reserve on 29 June 2005, under the Man and the Biosphere Programme, over some 33,442 hectares shared between the municipalities of La Pola de Gordón and Villamanín, with around 3,800 inhabitants across 36 settlements. It is a transition zone between the Atlantic and Mediterranean domains, with beech woods, oak woods, juniper stands and river systems that make it a biological corridor for the Cantabrian brown bear and the Iberian wolf.

Photo: Pastranec (CC BY-SA 3.0)

What to see and do in La Pola de Gordón