Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park | |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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Ordesa Valley
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Location | Pyrenees of Huesca, Spain |
Nearest city | Jaca |
Coordinates | 42°40′18″N 0°3′20″E / 42.67167°N 0.05556°ECoordinates: 42°40′18″N 0°3′20″E / 42.67167°N 0.05556°E |
Area | 156.08 km² |
Established | 1918 |
Governing body | Spanish Ministry of Environment. |
Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park is an IUCN Category II National Park situated in the Pyrenees of Huesca province, Aragon, Spain. There has been a National Park in the Ordesa Valley since 1918. Its protected area was enlarged in 1982 to cover the whole region amounting to 156.08 km².
It has been included since 1997 by UNESCO in the Biosphere Reserve of Ordesa-Viñamala. In the same year it was included in the cross-border Pyrénées - Mont Perdu World Heritage Site.
The park's territory includes the municipalities of Torla, Broto, Fanlo, Tella-Sin, Puértolas, and Bielsa
At elevations up to 1,500-1,700 meters, there are extensive forests of beeches (Fagus sylvatica), Abies alba, pines (Pinus sylvestris), oaks (Quercus subpyrenaica), and a lesser extent of birches (Betula pendula), ashes (Fraxinus excelsior), willows (Salix angustifolia). At higher elevations up to 2,000 m, the mountain pine (Pinus uncinata) dominates. Up to 1,800 m, bushes of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) are found. In the high meadows from 1,700 to 3,000 meters, there are numerous endemisms including Borderea pyrenaica, Campanula cochleariifolia, Ramonda myconi, Silene borderei, Androsace cylindrica, Pinguicula longifolia, Petrocoptis crassifolia, etc. The Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum), is one of the symbols of the National Park.