SCI Macizo Central - Natura 2000 Network

The Massif Central covers a large, virtually unpopulated mountainous area which has preserved important transitional ecosystems. These mountain ranges are favourable for wolves and large prey such as roe deer, red deer or wild boar. There are also botanical surprises such as unique holly or birch forests among vegetation that is often used to create pastures for livestock. Traditional pastoralism survives in the highland villages.

These are lands facing the slow changes of nature and tradition. Like centenarian chestnut trees that bear sweet, tender fruit every year, or Roman bridges over which cars still drive. This is how it seems to be in the hinterland of the province of Ourense, where the peaks combine the rugged charm of stone with the tenderness of the great curved landforms. The Serra de Queixa boasts the highest point in Galicia's only winter resort, at Cabeza de Manzaneda (1,782 m).

The rivers that rise in these highlands flow into the Sil, the Miño and even the Portuguese Douro. The Bibei River is the longest and, together with its tributary, the Navea, forms a spectacular natural and scenic resource, which flows into the Sil at the end of its mouth. It is also a propitious land for vine cultivation, protected under the D.O. Ribeira Sacra.

It is thus an important realm of water that contrasts in both abundance and scarcity according to the seasons, altitude and orientation. Slightly less than 200 kilometres from the coast, it is one of the most rainy and snowy areas in the world, though the summers are very dry. The average annual temperature never rises above 10ºC.

FLORA: Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica). Forest of birch trees (Betula alba) in Montederramo, mixed with ‘carballeiras’ (oak groves). Holly (Ilex aquifolium) and Hunter's Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia). Grassland summits rich in flora such as festuca indigesta, cytisus scoparius pyrethrum and cystisus purgans.
FAUNA: Wolf (Canis lupus), Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Weasel (Mustela nivalis), Marbled partridge (Perdix perdix hispaniensis). Hoofed wildlife at O Invernadeiro Park: Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), fallow deer (Dama dama) and red deer (Cervus elaphus).