Mino river natural area in Galicia - Nature reserve - Spain
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Galicia Information - Natural Parks: TERRAS DO MIÑO |
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LOCATION: Upper Basin of the River Mino, in Lugo province. Councils of Ourol, O Valadouro, Muras, Alfoz, Mondonedo, Abadín, Xermade, Vilalba, A Pastoriza, Riotorto, Guitiriz, Cospeito, Meira, Begonte, Rabade, Castro de Rei, Outeiro de Rei, Pol, Lugo, Friol, Castroverde, Guntín, o Corgo, Baralla, O Paramo and Lancara. SURFACE AREA: 363,668.9 Ha. of which 10% corresponds to the central fluvial and mountainous area; 22% is known as buffer area; and 68%, transition zone. ACCESS: The main road connections from east to west: motorway A-6 and N-VI; from north to south: N-640. SERVICES: Accommodation: Yes. Food: Yes. M.A.N.: Terras do Mino Visitors' Centre, next to the city of Lugo: River Fervedoira. Tel.: 902 101 117. Arranged visits. Mazo de Santa Comba Industrial Complex. Río Chamoso s/n. Insuas do Mina Visitors Centre, Rabade. "The age of rivers is counted in leagues, not in years" as one of Lugo's great writers, Anxel Fole, once said. In this respect, the Mino focuses one of the inland Galicia's areas with most life: the "Terras do Mino" Biosphere Reserve. It comprises the river's whole upper basin from its source in Pedregal de Irimia and the sources of the Fonmina (Meira) to the south of the walled city. There are also interesting mountain ranges (See Serra do Xistral), numerous tributaries (SeeParga-Ladra- Tamoga) and the wetlands of Terra Cha with Lagoa de Cospeito at the headwater (See also "Lagoa do Rei"). Whether in leagues or hectares, they occupy forty per cent of the entire Lugo province and represent the second-largest biosphere reserve in Spain. We should add to this the 160,000 inhabitants that live in it, and for whom this UNESCO declaration aims to encourage an economic development that is both culturally and ecologically sustainable. Rivers and Mountains, Miño and Xistral, are the nucleus where the most valuable ecosystems are to be found: riverbanks and peat bogs, respectively. Landscapes of water. From the abundance of water, we get the insuas, river islands. And from water in clouds come the mountain peat bogs. In the transition areas where the population concentrates, agricultural activities harmonize the landscape of permanent green and farmland panoramas where the local breed of cow is the "rubia gallega". To Terra Cha, apart from a town here another there, as described by its poet Manuel María, it is a stretching horizon of rolling meadows, carballeiras and other fragas outlining the river channels. ROUTES The itinerary in best conditions alongside the river is the one that starts off from near the city of Lugo, from the Visitors' Centre on the banks of the River Fervedoira, and covers about 18 kilometres along the left bank of the Miño to the mouth of the River Neira. There are also points well-worth visiting, related with nature, crafts and history. We could name numerous insuiñas such as those of San Silvestre, Torron de Castelo, Pazo de Seivane, O Curro, Meilan, Santalla, Perrelo, Cabanes, Borneiros, Trabanca, Cela... and those undergoing regeneration work such as Insua de San Roque, between Outeiro de Rei and Rabade, and Pozos do Ollo, in Begonte. These areas, of considerable natural and landscape value have a Visitors' Centre in Rabade. The human relationship with the river can be seen in the caneiros or low sluices that traditionally dam the current, such as the one at Piago (Ombreiro), and in the batuxos, vessels designed by and for these waters, an ethnographic element filled with memories and future. The most interesting points showing this relationship are the Mazo de Santa Comba ironworks and, mainly, the A Fervenza Ethnographic Complex, which, apart from the spectacular waterfall of the same name, it has a mill, fishery, forge and zoqueiro (clog) workshop. Also in the field of crafts, a visit to the Bonxe pottery is a must, considered to be the oldest in Galicia. As for historical heritage, there are two periods that came together to to mould these lands' future. On one hand, the "Castreña" culture which is magnificently explained in the open-air museum at Castro de Viladonga (Castro de Rei). On the other hand, the Roman legacy which explains itself with a stroll along the parapets of Lugo's Roman walls (World Heritage) with a perimeter of over two kilometres. FLORA: Oak forests (Quercus pyrenaica and Quercus robur); alluvial forests of alder and birch (Alnus glutinosa and Betulo-Molinietum); wetalnd undergrowth (Ulex europaeus, Cytissus ingramii); redoubts of highland peat bogs (E. tetralix, Sphagnum and Cladium mariscus) and water plants. FAUNA: Bioindicators of health in the fluvial ecosystems such as otters (Lutra lutra) and river pearls (Margaritifera margaritifera). Sightings of Iberian wolves (Canis lupus). A refuge for water fowl with winter and breeding colonies. |
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