Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A large mountainous area in the Cordillera Cantábrica. The site is characterized by deciduous woodland, scrub, grassland and narrow valleys with many small villages and some cultivation. The area is used for cattle-grazing, hunting, forestry and tourism and some mining.
Breeding birds include five of the 10 species in Europe that are restricted to the Eurasian high-montane biome (when breeding).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The most important threats are over-exploitation of game, mining and increased infrastructural development for tourism.
National Partial
International Partial86,000 ha of IBA covered by National Game Reserve (Somiedo, 87,900 ha). 29,122 ha of IBA covered by Natural Park (Somiedo, 29,122 ha). 29,122 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Somiedo, 29,122 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Babia-Somiedo (Spain). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/babia-somiedo-iba-spain on 23/12/2024.
