AIAKOHARRIA

Descriptionandsituation Palaeozoicgranitemassif,locatedinthe

foothillsofthePyrenees,intheeasternend

ofGipuzkoa.

Surfacearea 6,806ha

Protectionstatus ZEC-NATURA2000(ES2120016)

Otherregionalornationalprotections NaturalParksince1995

Mainuses Preferablyforestry.Thelevelareas(8%)are

locatedonthehighestcrestsandhills.

Ownership 83%PublicUtilityMountain.

HabitatstargetedbyLIFE (4030)DryEuropeanheath,(6230)plantformationswithNardus,(7140)transitionmires.

Thesehabitatsoccupy8%ofthetotalsurfaceareaoftheZEC.

AiakoHarriaisamassiflocatedinthenorth-easternzoneofGipuzkoa,ontheborderwith

Navarre.Thisisabruptterrainwithelevationshardlyexceeding800metresinheight.The

spaceencompassespartoftheBidasoaRiver'sleftshore,whichactsastheeasternborderfor

theZEC.

AiakoHarria'sterrain,wheretheoldestmaterialsinEuskadiaretobefound,datebacktothe

Palaeozoicperiod.Severalrangesofelevations,thesunandshadeslopes,andthethermal

conditionsoftheravinesmakeavariedplantlandscape,markedbytheacidityofthesubstrate

andmodifiedbyafforestation.

Halfofthesurfaceareaisoccupiedbyforestplantationswithconifersanddeciduoustrees.

Forestswithautochthonousspecieshavebeenreduced,althoughthereisstillahighnumber

ofbeech,Pyreneanoakandmatureoakgrovesthathostagreatnumberofspecies,someof

whichareendangered,suchastheblackwoodpecker,orthatareofcommunityinterest,such

assaproxylicinsects(RosaliaalpinaandLucanuscervus).

ThehabitatsformingthemountainpastureenvironmenttargetedbythisLIFEoccupy542ha

andarelocatedonthehillsandhighpartsofthemountainrange.Thesearepasture

communitieswhereacidophileheathisofnote(inmanycases,initsmostdeterioratedstate,

havingbecomegorse)andmountainmeadows,thatoffershelterandfoodtoendangered

fowl-faunaspecies,suchasthehenharrierandthegriffonvulture.Ofthefloraassociatedwith

pastures,thespeciesDaphnecneorumisofnote,cataloguedas"Endangered"intheBasqueCatalogueofEndangeredSpeciesoftheBasqueCountryAutonomousCommunity.

Inthisspace,withtheOREKAMEDIANproject,theaimistoalleviatetheeffectscausedbythe

imbalanceinthelivestockload,adaptingittoeachkindofhabitatandbycontrollingthe

spreadofbrush.AnattemptwillalsobemadetoregeneratetheEndaraoakgrove,andthe

existingmarsheswillberestoredtoensurethefutureoftheendangeredfloraassociatedwith

them.