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San Glorio is a mountain pass in the Cantabrian Mountains of Northern Spain. The pass reaches an elevation of 1609 metres along the national highway N621 which connects the city of León with Cantabria and which passes through Asturias. The pass is situated some 800m from the southern border of the Picos de Europa National Park, a park included in UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves and shared by the provinces of León, Asturias and Cantabria. The valleys of this part of the Cantabrian Mountains include sites in the European Union's Natura 2000 network and Special Protection Areas for the conservation of wild birds. San Glorio is used as a corridor by the Cantabrian brown bear ''Ursus arctos'', catalogued in Spain as being in danger of extinction.〔Spain's Ministry of the Environment Threatened Species List http://www.mma.es/secciones/biodiversidad/especies_amenazadas/catalogo_especies/vertebrados_mamiferos/pdf/ver18.pdf〕 Moreover, the slopes of the glacial valleys making up the surrounding region are home to an important variety of plant life. == Environmental issues == San Glorio is also the name of a projected ski resort in the area. Involving some 60 kilometres of pistes, the development was first suggested in the 1970s. The current project was presented in 2003 and has so far not gone ahead due to legal challenges related to the environmental value of the area. The scientific community warned of irreparable damage that would result to the habitat from the construction of large facilities. Much of the land in question belongs to the Natural Park of Fuentes Carrionas y Fuente Cobre-Montaña Palentina. According to a 2006 report published by the Ministry of the Environment,〔''Picos de Europa National Park and Mount Covadonga'' (A. Álvarez, et al.) (Spain's Ministry for the Environment Report ) (in Spanish)〕 the Picos de Europa has "conservation problems at local level" due mainly to the role tourism plays, but also because there are
While the latest estimate puts the Cantabrian Brown Bear population at around 140, these bears are divided between around 100-110 in the Western section and 25-30 in the Eastern. Leading Spanish experts have warned that despite an evident rise, the bear population will not be viable until there are "several hundred". Asturias only has a 25% forest coverage, the lowest for any existing bear region in Europe (other bear areas have more than 50% forest coverage) and habitat improvement is therefore a key issue. Another problem is that of infrastructures. According to Jon Swenson, vice-president for Eurasia of the International Bear Association (IBA), the effect of a ski station would cause the same environmental impact as a town of 3,000 inhabitants and bears would keep at least 10 km away from such facilities. 〔(Brown bears in Spain )〕 Likewise, in a paper presented in February 1989 at the Eighth International Conference on Bear Research and Management, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Christopher Servheen of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated that the continued reduction in habitat further isolates the two subpopulations in the Cantabrian Mountains, "making them more susceptible to the demographic and genetic consequences of small population size."〔Status & Conservation of Bears of the World http://www.bearbiology.com/iba/bearcons/statcons.html〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「San Glorio」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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