UNESCO approves the rezoning of three biosphere reserves

The Official State Gazette publishes this Tuesday, September 8, 2026, in issue number 222, the Resolution of August 22, 2026, from the Autonomous Body of National Parks, announcing the approval by UNESCO of modifications to three Spanish biosphere reserves. The resolution, reference BOE-A-2026-18825, includes the rezoning of the Área de Allariz (Galicia) and Valles del Leza, Jubera, Cidacos y Alhama (La Rioja) reserves, as well as the adjustment of the zoning for the Macizo de Anaga (Canaries), accompanied by their technical sheets and perimeter maps.

The three modifications were approved during the 37th session of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) International Co-ordinating Council (ICC-MAB), held in Lin’an (China) on September 26 and 27, 2025. The publication is carried out in accordance with Article 49 of Law 42/2007, of December 13, on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity (renumbered as Article 50 by Law 33/2015, of September 21), which requires the dissemination of the approval of these modifications in the gazette along with the basic information and the perimeter map.

Rezoning of the Área de Allariz Biosphere Reserve

The Galician reserve, declared on June 29, 2005, was rezoned on September 27, 2025. It extends across the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the province of Ourense, and integrates four municipalities: A Bola, Allariz, Rairiz de Veiga, and Vilar de Santos, with a population of 9,667 inhabitants.

Total area: 21,356 ha.
Core area: 982 ha.
Buffer zone: 9,986 ha.
Transition area: 10,388 ha.

The territory, bordering the Limia river depression and the Allariz granitic massif, stands out for its units of high ecological value: the veigas, the touzas, and the sebes (mixed groves of oaks and pyrenes).

Rezoning of the Valles del Leza, Jubera, Cidacos y Alhama Biosphere Reserve

The Riojan reserve, declared on July 9, 2003, and rezoned on September 27, 2025, is located on the southeastern border of La Rioja, in the Riojan Iberian mountain range. It has 6,246 inhabitants distributed across 40 municipalities, of which 27 are fully included and 13 partially.

Total area: 121,771 ha.
Core area: 13,793 ha.
Buffer zone: 22,287 ha.
Transition area: 85,691 ha.

The area, structured by the valleys of the rivers that give it its name, houses three core zones of the Natura 2000 Network, paleontological sites with dinosaur footprints, two pyrite mines—one considered the best in the world due to the purity of its crystals—and numerous thermal water springs. Its economy relies on extensive livestock farming and tourism linked to natural resources, including the Starlight tourist destination due to the quality of its night skies.

Zoning Adjustment of the Anaga Massif

The Canarian reserve, declared on June 9, 2015 (registered in BOE-A-2015-9446 and corrected in BOE-A-2016-7936), received its zoning adjustment on September 27, 2025. Located in the northeast of Tenerife, it partially covers the municipalities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, and Tegueste, as well as the marine strip down to 1,000 meters deep, with 20,113 inhabitants.

Total area: 49,948.84 ha (16,693.51 terrestrial and 33,255.33 marine).
Core zone: 1,870.23 ha.
Buffer zone: 9,645.29 ha.
Transition zone: 38,433.32 ha.

The reserve, historically linked to agriculture, livestock farming, forestry, and fishing, seeks to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage with sustainable socioeconomic development, within a context of depopulation and aging of its rural centers.

The resolution, signed in Madrid on August 22, 2026, by the director of the Autonomous Body of National Parks, Javier Pantoja Trigueros, by virtue of the delegation of Order APM/126/2018, of February 5, reinforces the legal certainty of the territorial planning of these protected spaces. For the city councils, managers, and residents of the three reserves, the publication precisely establishes the new perimeters and zonings, a key instrument for the conservation and sustainable development of these territories.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 222, September 8, 2026, Sec. III, page 120385 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-18825).