a clear river running through pine forest and rock
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Serranía de Cuenca, Alto Tajo and Montes Universales, Spain

Iberian Highlands

850,000 hectares of mountain, forest and canyon being rewilded in central Spain.

850,000 haArea
Rewilding landscapeType
Matched with Landport DitchCity patch
Give to this pair Open on the MaP

The Iberian Highlands are one of the emptiest parts of Spain. Rewilding Spain, with Rewilding Europe, is using that space: horses and tauros graze the plateau as wild herbivores once did, cinereous and bearded vultures are being brought back, Iberian lynx are supported, and fourteen sites are being set aside to become old-growth forest. Over half the landscape already sits inside Natura 2000 protected areas.

What is being created

The work
  • Natural grazing with horses, tauros and kulan
  • Return of cinereous and bearded vultures
  • 2,000 hectares of old-growth forest reserve across 14 sites
Wildlife returning
  • Iberian lynx
  • Cinereous and bearded vulture
  • Bonelli's eagle, peregrine falcon, eagle owl
Species
Iberian lynxBearded vultureCinereous vultureBonelli's eagle
juniper and pine woodland below limestone escarpments in the Serrania de Cuenca, morning mist in the valley

At a glance

Location
Serranía de Cuenca, Alto Tajo and Montes Universales, SpainIberia · Spain
Area
850,000 ha
Type
Rewilding landscape
Ecosystem
Mountain pine, oak and juniper forest, steppe and river canyons
Community
Works with local councils and the city of Cuenca on nature tourism and wildlife photography.
Run by
Rewilding Spain
Verification
Restor listed

Links

Where it connects

Iberian Highlands and Landport Ditch

Half of every gift to this pair is spent here, half in Landport Ditch, 561 km away.

a clear river running through pine forest and rock Iberian Highlands
a garden path lined with native shrubs, Gibraltar apartment blocks and the Rock behind Landport Ditch Read the story
about 400 m²in the city
850,000 hain the wild
561 kmbetween them

Funding

Funding target£18,000

What the money does

  • Native saplings and soil for the moat
  • Tools, water and a season of care by volunteers
  • Signage and materials for school visits
  • Native tree planting and forest reserve care
  • Monitoring of returning vultures and lynx
  • Local ranger and community work
£25one-off giftGrowing Impact

Plants, soil and the first year of care in the city and the wild.

a garden path lined with native shrubs, Gibraltar apartment blocks and the Rock behind
Urban · Landport Ditch£12.50
a clear river running through pine forest and rock
Wild · Iberian Highlands£12.50
Give £25 to two places
Secure checkout by StripeRegistered charity no. 329Split 50 / 50

Updates

  1. 2022

    Landscape launched with Rewilding Europe

  2. 2023 to 2025

    Herbivores released, vulture programme, first forest reserves

  3. 2026 onward

    MaP funding joins the forest reserve and monitoring work

Bare prepared ground with a handful of very small saplings just planted, a stone wall and rock face behind

No field reports yet. The first arrives after the first planting day.

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