Redes Natural Park
Calleo, typical village in the Redes Natural Park
The Natural Park of Redes is situated in the central oriental mountain section of Asturias. It covers the boroughs of Caso and Sobrescobio and borders with the Natural Park of Ponga to the East. It was declared a Natural Park in 1996 with the objective of maintaining the state and functionality of the ecosystems and the protection of species and their habitat. In 2001 it was declared an UNESCO world heritage site.
In total the park covers an area of three hundred and seventy seven square kilometres and its altitudes range from 360 metres to 2,022 metres. The environmental richness of the Park of Redes can be seen in its variety of contrasting landscapes. There are glacial formations such as moraines and cirques, karstic forms in caves and sinkholes, huge grasslands, hills and thick forests. Wooded areas cover forty percent of Redes. The action of rivers has resulted in the creation of open valleys forming large “vegas”, fertile plains, in their bottoms and impressive limestone defiles such as the one of the river Alba or that of the Arrudos. The Rio Nalon, supplying eighty percent of the region’s water, flows through the entire area and has it’s source high in the mountains at “La Nalona”
All the characteristic species of north Spain can be found in the Redes Park; brown bears roaming from the Piloña beech forests in the Ponga Park or wolves that abound throughout Redes with stable zones for their litters. There are also large populations of deer and chamois, otter and wild boar. There are splendid capercailles, egyptian vultures, goshawks, golden eagles, griffon vultures and a wide variety of other birds and reptiles who benefit from the excellent ecological and enviromental preservation of the park.
The entire park is dotted with tiny Asturian villages whose houses are constructed of stone and wood with attractive red tiled roofs with flower be-decked wooden balconies. There are many well preserved and still used stilted ‘Horreos’ grain/provision stores, traditional farming methods still prevail.