Bardenas Reales Natural Park

The Bardenas Reales Natural Park is a unique a unique semi-desert landscape in south-western Navarra.

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The Bardenas Reales is UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
The Bardenas Reales Biosphere Reserve and Natural Park is located in the northern part of Spain, comprising the Natural Reserve ‘Rincón del Bú’ and the Reserva Natural ‘Caídas de la Negra’ .The landscape can be described as a cuesta landscape with mesa shaped highs, steep slopes and deeply dissected valleys. Its botanical singularity is associated with the Ebro River depression, which has permitted the conservation of diverse communities in the steppes. It comprises evergreen Juniperus forest, woodland or scrubsaline steppes, ravines and valleys in deforested areas. Some Mediterranean grazing lands, reeds and sedges of permanent water bodies, matorral, and agroecosystems are also found. The biosphere reserve contains one of the populations of griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) more extense in the Iberian peninsula. The bird’s community exceeds 100 varieties of species such as the rapacious great bustard (Otis tarda), sison (Tetrax tetrax) and the stone curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus). There are no people living in the reserve, but the area has traditionally been used for transhumance activities. It also includes a military zone. About 90,000 sheep are moved into the area for winter grazing after being moved up to the Pyrenees in summer. There are more than 250 archeological sites from the Bronze and Iron Age, and the Roman period. The objectives of the biosphere reserve are not only the conservation of ecosystems and species but also its traditional forms of sustainable use of natural resources, which constitutes its cultural heritage.

“The Bardenas Reales Natural Park is a pseudo-steppe landscape sculpted over millions of years, which, just 70 kilometres away from the peaks of the Pyrenees, has flora and fauna more appropriate to an African desert than the north of the Iberian Peninsula.” More