Somiedo Natural Park

Somiedo Natural Park
Parque Natural de Somiedo
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Lake in the natural park
Location	Spain
Area	39,164 ha
Established	1988
Governing body	Principality of Asturias

Somiedo Natural Park ((Spanish): Parque Natural de Somiedo) is a natural park located in the central area of the Cantabrian Mountains in the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain.

It contains 39,164 hectares, corresponding geographically with the municipality of Somiedo, which is completely included in the park, as well as the municipalities of Belmonte and Teverga.

Lakes in the park have been designated a natural monument, the Conjunto Lacustre de Somiedo.

The farming methods traditional to the area are regarded as an example of sustainable living, and were a factor in UNESCO's designation of the park as a Biosphere Reserve in 2000. Of particular interest is the braña, a traditional system of livestock herding based on transhumance, which makes use of high pastures for summer grazing. There is interest in preserving the traditional buildings of the brañas not only for farming purposes but also as a tourist attraction.

Somiedo is one of a number of Biosphere Reserves in the Cantabrian mountains. The possibility of managing these reserves together as a "super-reserve" (to be called Gran Cantábrica) has been under discussion. Integration would benefit the management of some species of wildlife.

UNESCO is also considering the inclusion of Somiedo in a World Heritage Site, for which transhumance would be one of the defining characteristics.

The park is a stronghold of the Cantabrian brown bear. In 2009 the Spanish newspaper El País referred to Somiedo with its 30 bears as the Spanish Yellowstone. The Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP) opened an interpretation centre in October 2011 called “Somiedo y el Oso” in Pola de Somiedo.