Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park

Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park

Location: Lleida, Catalonia

Area: 141 km2 (54 sq mi)

 

Description of Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park

Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park is a nature reserve in Catalonia region of Spain that covers an area of 141 km2 (54 sq mi). The National Park of Aiguas Tortas and Lake of San Mauricio (in Catalan: National Park of Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici, in Occitan, Parc Nacionau d'Aigüestòrtes and Estanh de Sant Maurici) was created in 1955 and is the only Spanish national park located in the autonomous community of Catalonia. With 525,067 visitors annually (2015), the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park is the eighth national park in Spain in number of visitors. It is located in the central part of the Pyrenees divided between four regions of the Pyrenees: Alta Ribagorza, Pallars Sobirà, Pallars Jussà and Valle de Arán, in the province of Lleida, encompassing, in its central part, territory of the municipal boundaries of Espot and Valle de Bohí.

It has two areas: the eastern, continental climate and irrigated by the tributaries of Noguera Pallaresa, which feed the lake of San Mauricio, and the western (Aiguas Tortas), Atlantic high mountain climate and bathed by the tributaries of Noguera Ribagorzana. The geography of the park is high mountain because much of the territory exceeds 1,000 meters above sea level, with peaks that exceed 3,000 meters. Highlights, among all, two valleys: to the west the valley of the San Nicolás River, with its characteristic meadows and meanders from which comes the name of "Aiguas Tortas" (tortuous waters).

Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park has a great biological value. The large slopes that it presents originate the different ecosystems: meadows, crops and deciduous forests in the lower elevations, evergreen forests in the middle elevations, and meadows and rocks of high mountain in the highest levels. For years it has been a protected space and its relatively inaccessible access, it has preserved the flora and fauna in a rather wild state. In spite of everything, the footprint of man is inevitable and the park is still exploited by cattle, tourism and hydroelectric power plants.

 

Situation and state of the park

The park has 40.852 ha divided into two different protection zones, the internal zone and the peripheral zone. The internal zone is the one that has the category of national park, strictly speaking and has 14,119 ha . The 26,733 ha of the peripheral zone surrounds the inner zone and is intended to create a gradual level of protection between the more protected inner part and the outer part.

The internal zone is found, entirely, in the municipalities of the valley of Bohí and Espot . On the Bohí slope, the San Nicolás valley and the head of the Noguera de Tor river valley must be distinguished . Between the Llong and Llebreta lakes, the San Nicolás river forms the characteristic meanders that are the origin of the name Aguas Tortas . These meanders, which are not exclusive to this place, are formed in flat places, when the space occupied by an old lake fills with sediments.

On the Espot slope is the Escrita River and the San Mauricio Lake. In this lake, like many others in the Pyrenees, a set of dams was built in order to obtain greater hydroelectric performance. The lake is located at the foot of the imposing Los Encantados . This set formed by the lake of San Mauricio and Els Encantats is another of the characteristic images of the park's beauty and the motif that appears in the park's logo.

The "peripheral zone" includes the municipalities of Viella and Alto Arán in the Valle de Arán; from Vilaller and the Bohí valley in Alta Ribagorza ; The Cabdella Tower in Pallars Jussa ; and Espot, Alto Aneu, Esterri de Aneu, La Guingueta and Sort in Pallars Sobirá. In this peripheral area there are corners of great beauty and natural value, such as the Mata de Valencia de Aneu forest, the Gerber and Cabanes valleys, the Colomers circus , the Saboredo circus, the Valarties riverbank, the Besiberri valley , the Cabdella lakes, the Montardo peak and many others.

 

History

Human settlement in the High Pyrenees began as the last ice age receded. No stable settlement was ever established within the park boundaries. But recent archaeological studies have found remains of temporary human settlements occupied more than 8,500 years ago, in the Neolithic period . During the 19th century, coinciding with the period of greatest demographic development in the valleys that surround the park, human pressure was maximum, with intense forestry, livestock, agricultural, and fish exploitation. During the first half of the 20th century hydroelectric exploitation began in the Pyrenees, which meant a profound alteration of the landscape that until then had remained fairly well preserved.

In 1932, the Maciá Plan contemplated the creation of the Alt Pyrenees National Park, but it was a decree of the Ministry of Agriculture issued on October 21, 1955 that declared it a national park according to the natural parks law of 1916 with the name of Parque Nacional de Aiguas Tortas y Lago de San Mauricio (name that has not been officially repeated or changed), with an initial extension of 9851 ha. At that time it was the fifth national park in Spain and the second in the Pyrenees after Ordesa.

On April 6, 1957, the first regulation of Aiguas Tortas was approved. This regulation prohibited hunting and regulated fishing and forest exploitation that continued to be carried out within the interior of the park.

With the approval of the Statute of autonomy of Catalonia in 1979, the Generalitat of Catalonia obtained the powers for the management and legislation of natural parks. Then began a time of co-management between the two administrations. During this time some investments began to be made: the accesses were fixed, the nursery was increased and the first maintenance and information staff were hired during the summer months.

On March 30, the Generalitat of Catalonia enacts the Law (7/1988, of March 30) for the reclassification of the national park, in accordance with the Catalan law on natural spaces of 1985. An important aspect of this law is the creation of the peripheral protection zone with the aim of guaranteeing complete protection of natural resources and avoiding possible ecological and landscape impacts from abroad.

As of this moment, the regulations are tightened and fishing, camping, forest exploitation and any other natural resource are prohibited, except pastures and hydroelectric plants that have concessions in force. In the peripheral zone, only traditional uses and exploitations compatible with the objectives of environmental protection and conservation are allowed. This law details the end of the cohabitation between the central and regional administration. The State stops recognizing Aiguas Tortas as a national park.

With Law 22/90 of December 28, the limits of the peripheral zone, the composition of the park management board and the permitted exploitation activities were partially modified.

On July 5, 1996 there was a new expansion of the park that includes the current 14,119 ha.

On November 5, 1997, at the request of an appeal from the Generalitat of Catalonia, the Spanish law 4/1989 on natural spaces was modified, enabling the management of national parks by the autonomous communities and the return of Aiguas Tortas to the network of national parks in Spain.

 

Biological heritage

The geomorphology of the high Pyrenees allows the ecosystems that occur within the park to be very varied, on the one hand because of the different altitudes and on the other, the orientation of the slopes.

At all altitudes there are small ecosystems produced, either by the shade, the banks of fast rivers or calm water lakes.

 

Vegetation

In the lower parts of the mountains, on the montane floor up to about 1500 m, there are mostly deciduous forests with downy oak , ash , beech and hazel . These places, however, have been the most altered over the centuries by human action and are often occupied by mowing or tine meadows, bushes dominated by boxwood or secondary forests of Scots pine .

Higher up, from 1,500 m to over 2,000 m, the domain of black pine forests begins . Rhododendron and blueberry live in the shrub layer of the shady parts. Bearberry and juniper prefer sunnier places. On the shady and more humid slopes, below 2000 m, important fir forests grow . La Mata de Valencia It is the most important fir forest in the Pyrenees.Accompanying the forest are the whitebeams and the rowans (the hunting rowan , and the Sorbus chamaemespilus), small trees of low height characterized by the greyish color of their trunks and branches , as well as by their red fruits that persist from July until winter.

In the alpine pastures, above 2300 m, the forests no longer exist but numerous species of high mountain flora can be found, for example the alpine gentian , the snowy gentian , the Burser's gentian , the purple saxifrage or different buttercups .

A part of the species in the park (approximately 8%) are endemic to the Pyrenees in the broad sense. About 7% have a strictly Borean-Alpine or Arctic-Alpine distribution, and arrived in the Pyrenees during the last ice age. The most important group of flora species in the park corresponds to the Eurosiberian element, that is, the plants typical of humid central Europe.

 

Wildlife

The fauna of the park, although it is very interesting, behaves inconspicuously and is difficult to observe. It takes patience and a bit of luck to see the most emblematic species. There are approximately 220 species of vertebrates, of which almost two thirds are birds. It is worth noting the presence of the capercaillie, the golden eagle, the bearded vulture, the griffon vulture, the ptarmigan, the black woodpecker or the wallcreeper.

There are also passerines such as the jay, the white wagtail, the alpine sparrow, the northern treecreeper or the red rock thrush.

Some of the most representative mammals are the chamois or chamois (rupicapra pyrenaica), the wild boar, the stoat, the marten, the gray dormouse, the red squirrel or the roe deer. The marmot and fallow deer were introduced during the 20th century.

On the banks you can find the Iberian desman .

The two main rivers, the San Nicolás and the Escrita, and most of the lakes are inhabited by common trout that have to share the space with other native fish species that were introduced years ago by fishermen.

Among amphibians, the Pyrenean newt, endemic to the north of the Iberian Peninsula, is significant for its rarity. On the other hand, the grass frog is very abundant. There are also reptiles, such as the yellow-green snake or the poisonous asp viper.

 

Geology and climatology

The interior of the park offers a magnificent representation of the geology of the Pyrenees. The predominant rocks, granite and slate, are very old, having formed during the Primal Era. These very old materials rose from the bottom of the sea during the Alpine orogeny, in the Tertiary Era, giving rise to the current Pyrenees.

But without a doubt what imprints the geological character of the central Pyrenees are the successive glaciations of the Quaternary Era that covered these mountains with extensive glaciers tens of kilometers long. The lakes, the waterfalls, the sharp peaks, the vertiginous ridges, as well as the U-shape of the valleys constitute a magnificent example of the erosive action of these glaciers of which, today, only a few small relict examples remain in the Aragonese Pyrenees.

Currently, water is the main protagonist, both because of the characteristic meanders of the high mountains, and because of the great concentration of lakes, rivers and waterfalls. This park is the most important lake area in the Pyrenees.

The average temperature in the park ranges between zero and five degrees. Winter in the high mountains is very cold and in the highest parts of the park for four months temperatures do not exceed 0 degrees.

The annual precipitations are between 900 mm and 1300 mm distributed in about 150 days of precipitation. Of these 150 days, at least 100 precipitations are in the form of snow.