Spain is one of the European countries with the greatest natural heritage, but the planet is full of these incredible natural places. The Importance of natural heritage is that it teaches us the ability of the nature of building and maintaining beautiful landscapes and ecosystems. In addition, it is the home of a large number of species that need their protection and that can contribute a lot to society from the scientific point of view.
In this ecology article, we want to explain you What is natural heritage and some examples.
What is natural heritage
Natural heritage is defined as the Set of natural goods located in the territory of a country. This heritage is protected in different countries through various protection categories. Among these categories, the Natural Park stands out, due to its pioneering character. Through these protection measures it is intended to reconcile the Natural Heritage Conservation With the public enjoyment of this heritage, also serving for environmental education activities. The set of these protection measures enjoy great success in the world, having currently more than 100,000 protected spaces worldwide.
Fortunately, Spain enjoys great biodiversity and a significant amount of protected spaces. The number and surface of these protected areas has increased considerably in recent years through the different initiatives of each autonomous community. In addition to this, for a few years, the European Union has created the Natura 2000 Network, whose objective is to put in common all policies and criteria for the protection of natural spaces at community scale. Thus, divide the protected natural spaces into two main categories:
- Zepa: Special protection areas for birds
- LIC: places of community importance
The Spanish Network of Natural Spaces It is one of the largest in Europe and provides protection to the different ecosystems, landscapes and species of Spanish natural heritage.
Natural heritage in Spain
In the case of Spain, the natural heritage extends along the Pyrenees, the Peninsular North, the Canary Islands and the Island of Menorca, the Garajonay National Park or the Doñana National Park in Andalusia.
The different levels of protection of natural spaces They range from world heritage (category granted since 1972 by UNESCO), Protected Surface, Biosphere Reserve, Zepa and LIC. All these levels try to protect and conserve the different natural landscapes and biodiversity that include.
Natural Heritage Examples in Spain
Some Natural Heritage Examples in Spain And therefore, of protected natural spaces are:
Garajonay National Park
This National Park is located in the center of the island of La Gomera, in the Canary Islands. Its main attraction is that it retains one of Laurisilva’s most important forests. It also stands out for its great diversity in plant formations, its impressive geological monuments and its large number of endemic species that it houses.
In addition to a national park, it is also part of the world heritage, in which it has been since 1986 and was the first Spanish natural park included in this list.
If you like natural parks, we recommend that you see this other ecology article see with a list of more than 100 natural parks in Spain.
Teide National Park
This park stands out for the beauty of its landscape, being one of the most beautiful in the world. The park houses a great biological wealth with a high percentage of endemic plant species in the area and an important amount of invertebrate fauna.
In addition to this, it has the highest point on the island of Tenerife and Spain, the Teide volcano. Being also the third largest volcano in the world with 3,718 meters and is the highest peak of the Earth emerged from the Atlantic Ocean.
The Teide National Park is part of the world heritage list in the category of natural good since 2007.
Doñana National Park
This park is located in the Gofo de Cádiz in the Atlantic Ocean, between the provinces of Seville and Huelva and forms the largest ecological reserve in Europe. Doñana’s park is essential for the conservation of the most threatened cat in Europe, the Iberian lynx, and the Imperial Eagle. Since 1994, this park is registered in the World Heritage List.
The Pyrenees-Monte lost
This mountain is located in the Autonomous Community of Aragon and included in the Mixed World Heritage (Natural and Cultural) list since 1997.
Ibiza
It houses important marine and coastal ecosystems, where biodiversity and culture interact. Thus, it was declared a mixed World Heritage in 1999.
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