Muniellos Nature Reserve, Asturias, Spain

© ABB Photo/Shutterstoc

Muniellos Nature Reserve

Muniellos Nature Reserve is a protected area of woodland in Asturias, Spain. Spanning 5,488 hectares, this biosphere reserve is home to the best-preserved oak forest in Western Europe and the largest in Spain. With a terrain of mountains, valleys and forests, as well as over 100 species of birds and large species of Atlantic European fauna like brown bears and wolves, Muniellos Nature Reserve has remained unsullied by the outside world.

With such a diversity of flora, it may come as no surprise that Muniellos Nature Reserve is a popular and prolific beekeeping location. Unfortunately for busy beekeepers here, local endangered brown bears are partial to snacking on honey. Hence the traditional stone wall protecting the hives from thieves in today’s image. While the bear has always had an important place in Spanish culture – it's the symbol of Madrid, for example – bears’ reputation for plundering honey hives and sometimes even killing livestock makes them unpopular with beekeepers and farmers. The brown bears of Spain were once aggressively hunted, however conservationists worked to gain legal protection for the bears, and now there’s a delicate balance between bears and bees in Asturias.

Ecotourism here in the Muniellos Nature Reserve helps beekeepers and farmers sustain their businesses, while allowing visitors to explore this largely untouched part of Spain. The designation of Muniellos as a biosphere reserve also ensures the roaming woodland wildlife are protected in their natural environment.