The Valderejo-Sobrón-Sierra de Árcena SAC belongs exclusively to the Mediterranean biogeographic region and is located in the Valles Alaveses region of the Historical Territory of Álava, in the Central Álava Functional Area. It is characterized by its low population density and extensive forested areas dotted with significant rocky outcrops. In a landscape dominated by forests and limestone cliffs, priority habitats such as limestone peat bogs and petrifying springs stand out, as well as the presence of the Purón River, the main channel of the ENP, which rises near the peaks of Lerón (1,240 m above sea level) and Lerón I (1,236 m above sea level) and flows through Valderejo from northwest to southeast, receiving the waters of several tributary streams before flowing into the Ebro in the province of Burgos.
ZEC Valderejo-Sobron-Arcenako mendilerroa / Valderejo-Sobron-Sierra de Árcena – ES2110024
OVERVIEW
Area (ha): 6.815,71 ha
Natura 2000 Code: ES2110024
Within the territorial scope of the SAC, other protection statuses are included in accordance with national or regional legislation. This area was approved by the Natural Resources Management Plan (PORN) through Decree 3/1992, and was subsequently declared Valderejo Natural Park (Decree 4/1992). Decree 47/2016 designated it as a SAC/SPA, with its conservation objectives. It also includes the Third Master Plan for Use and Management (PRUX) and the document of guidelines and management measures for the SAC/SPA of the Natura 2000 Network (Agreement 345/2017).
CURRENT SITUATION AND CONSERVATION ACTIONS OF THE PROJECT
The area is dominated by forestry uses and, to a lesser extent, by extensive livestock farming and agricultural crops. Forest use focuses on firewood, for cooking fires, and clearings. There are also semi-natural stands of conifers, which are rarely used. Most of the Protected Natural Area (5,647.6 ha) (82.86%), delimited by the boundaries of the Valderejo-Sobrón-Sierra de Árcena Protected Area (SAC/SPA), is in the public domain, under the legal regime of Public Utility Forests (PUF), regulated by Forestry Regulation 11/2007, of March 26.
The uniqueness of the SAC/SPA Valderejo-Sobrón-Sierra de Árcena in the Natura 2000 Network of the Basque Country is due to the presence of certain habitats of community interest, highlighting the Habitats of Community Interest 7210* – Calcareous bogs of Cladium mariscus and with species of Caricion davallianae and 7220* – Petrifying springs with travertine formation (Cratoneurion) on which the project will act.