Areas owned     Alinyà's Mountain   Information point for la Muntanya d'Alinyà   Access to the Maps server Itineraries and visiting recommendations.          Vulture-watching.    Resultados del 2º  Censo Simultáneo de Buitre Negro en puntos de alimentación de Catalunya, Aragón, Andorra y Francia. Entrar al blog "El buitre negro a los Pirineo".   Introduction The Mountain of Alinyà, with a surface area of 5,350 hectares, was purchased in 1999. It is Caixa Catalunya Social Work's most important territorial action to date. This expanse of mountains in the pre-Pyrenees of the Alt Urgell located between the Cadí mountain range and the valley of the Segre is a natural park.   The Mountain of Alinyà is partially or wholly affected by three protection areas: the PEIN area of the Odèn-Port del Comte mountain range, the National Hunting Reserve of Cadí and the Special Protection Zone for Birds (ZEPA). The population of the valley of Alinyà has dropped dramatically over the last few decades. The valley was home to 635 people in 1940, but this figure had dropped to 150 registered inhabitants by 2000, of whom just 75 lived there permanently.    The inhabitants still carry out the traditional mountain activities of the area, such as extensive sheep and cattle breeding and cultivation of bufet potatoes, a highly prized variety cultivated in meadows which is grown in high-altitude fields. These activities are fully compatible with our aims and in some cases require conserving and promoting.   Caixa Catalunya's Social Work has been carried out an in-depth study of the nature value of the land and has drawn up a Management Plan covering all the aspects which need to be developed in the short and medium-term. These include a range of itineraries to enable visitors to discover the area and enjoy its nature and landscape values. Under the Management Plan a number of routes and a viewing point have been fitted out, springs have been restored and an animal charnel house has been refurbished.  In order to preserve, enhance and diversify the wooded part of the property and the landscape, a Technical Plan for Forest Improvement and Management has also been drawn up and actions have already been taken under it to recover cropland and pastures. Geomorphology and relief The area has a steep altitudinal gradient with a Mediterranean environment in the lower and dryer parts, at minus 500 metres, and subalpine environments in the higher part of the property, with an altitude of over 2,380 metres. This produces a broad range of microclimates. The relief is somewhat jagged with steep slopes that are often over 25% and can even measure over 70% in some spots. The passes and gorges in some stretches of the sections of the River Perles and the River de la Vansa. The main orientations are clearly sunny or shade (N or S). The mountain of Alinyà is encircled by the following mountain ranges, in a clockwise direction: Port del Comte, Odèn, Campelles, Turp and Aubenç, Carreu, Boumort and Sant Joan, Prada, Ares, Montsec de Tost, Cadí, and El Verd. The valley of Alinyà faces E-W. It descends from 2,383 metres at Pedró dels Quatre Batlles (Port del Comte mountain range) to 600 metres, where it links up with the valley of the Segre. It therefore boasts a remarkable altitudinal variation. Generally speaking, hypsometry gradually increases towards the E. The highest points of the perimeter are: El Pedró dels Quatre Batlles (2,383 m), La Gespeguera (2,331.4 m), El Tossal de Cambrils (1,802.7 m) and El Cap de la Guàrdia (1,873 m). Inside the property: Urdiet (2,131 m), Roca de la Pena (1,921 m), La Creu (1,291 m), Roca de Sant Ponç (1,179 m), Roca de Perles (approximately 1,000 m), Roc Galliner (1,635 m) and Tossal de Gaup (1,635.7 m).   There is a clear predominance of limestone material with a number of associated manifestations, such as the dolines at the culminal points of Port del Comte, or the gralleres or bòfies (a local word for chasms) which can be observed around the valley. Marls are also present in the area. There is a wealth of fossils in both types of rock. We should also point out the bauxite (a type of aluminium) mineralization and four opencast mines, now abandoned: one lignite (Mina Juanita, now restored), one clay and two gravel mines.     Climate The area has a humid sub-Mediterranean climate with continentality features, marked by relatively abundant precipitation in excess of 700-800 mm a year (this area is called "Catalunya humida" ¿ the wet Catalonia) and harsh temperatures during the Winter, with minimums of below zero and almost daily frosts.   Font de l'Aiguaneix. Author: Francesc Muntada   Flora and vegetation The valley of Alinyà has a considerable floral richness: studies conducted by the Catalan Institute of Natural History have identified around 860 taxons of vascular plants, including species and subspecies. This figure will probably reach around a thousand once all of the samples have been analysed.   This floral richness is due to a number of reasons: the geographical location, a marked variation in altitude and the limestone substrate. There is also a great diversity of habitats connected to azonal environments, such as aquatic, rupicolous, weed and anthropogenic areas.   A total of 55 vegetation units have been identified in the valley of Alinyà, 31 of which could be habitats of community interest, according to Directive 92/43/EC, annex I.     Forest vegetation The forests of the valley are home mainly to forests of conifers and needleleaf trees. There are three species of pine, two of which can be found in the montane zone, the Spanish black pine (Pinus nigra ssp salzmannii) and the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris); and one in the subalpine zone, the mountain pine (Pinus uncinata). Shrub vegetation The common box (Buxus sempervirens) can be observed in a number of communities, depending on whether the orientation is sunny or shaded. Garigues, rosemary scrubs and gorse-dominated areas are also to be found. Highlights of the area include the Juniperus phoenicea juniper woods, xeroacanthic oro-Mediterranean hedgehog broom scrubs (Erinacea anthyllis) - this area being one of their most northern locations - and subalpine scrubs of juniper (Juniperus communis ssp nana) and bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi).   Meadow vegetation There are three different communities: areas dominated by jonquils and white thyme, offering a unique floral composition with a wealth of endemisms (Teucrium polium ssp aragonense, Thymus serpyllum ssp fontqueri) and alpine meadows of bearskin fescue (Festuca gautieri). Rupicolous vegetation Six different communities have been found with species of interest such as: Antirrhinum molle - endemism of the central pre-Pyrenees, Rosette-mullein (Ramonda myconi) and the Pyrenean Saxifrage (Saxifraga longifolia).   Cultivated land and meadows Those typical of dry land are present here: from fields of olive and almond trees in small orchards to land used for cereal cultivation, fodder crops and grazing land. Potato fields (known locally as "trumfos") are characteristic of the area, particularly in the higher parts. The property is also home to meadows of tuber oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius) and the typical meadows of fodder crop production.   Fauna A total of 233 vertebrate species have been identified, the majority of which are birds. Of these, 5 are fish, 9 are amphibians, 11 are reptiles, 184 are birds and 24 are mammals. Four of the existing species of fauna are Iberian or Pyrenean endemisms: the barbel (Barbus bocagei graellsii), the redtail barb (Barbus haasi), the Pyrenean brook salamander (Euproctus asper) and the chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica). Mammals include the brown hare (Lepus europaeus), the pine marten (Martes martes), beech marten (Martes foina), Eurasian badger (Meles meles), wildcat (Felis silvestris), genet (Genetta genetta) and the chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica). There is an abundance of birds, including the great birds of prey such as the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), the Griffin vulture (Gyps fulvus), the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), the black vulture (Aegipyus monachus), the Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), the Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). The forest fauna is also an important element, as it includes the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), Tengmalm's owl (Aegolius funereus) and the black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius). In the higher zones, there is also a considerable chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) population.

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