The Parc Natural de Llevant will be the largest terrestrial park in the Balearic Islands

The Balearic Government has approved today in the Consell de Govern the extension of the Parc Natural de Llevant to more than 17,000 hectares. Of these, 10,900 will be terrestrial and 6,100 marine. This means a tenfold increase from the current extension of just over 1,600 hectares

The Consell de Govern has approved the extension of the Parc Natural de Llevant. The new Plan de Ordenación de los Recursos Naturales (PORN) multiplies by 10 its surface area, which includes the marine area of around 6,200 hectares and 10,900 hectares of land. It thus becomes the largest terrestrial Natural Park in the Balearic Islands.

A large part of the land area occupies the municipality of Artà, but it also includes the municipalities of Capdepera and Santa Margalida.

The Llevant peninsula of Mallorca is one of the most unique and interesting natural areas of the Balearic Islands due to the presence of a great diversity of habitats in a relatively small space. A mountainous area and a coastal area converge here, with numerous botanical endemisms and an important ethnological heritage.

Parc Natural de Llevant. Photo: GOB Mallorca

Son Real, na Borges, Muntanyes d’Artà and the Llevant Marine Reserve.

The public estate of Son Real is incorporated into the Natural Park, as well as several areas of the Natura 2000 Network, such as the Site of Community Interest (SCI) and Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA) Muntanyes d’Artà, the part of the SCI na Borges located to the north of the Alcúdia road in Artà, and the autonomous part of the Llevant Marine Reserve.

The extension of the boundaries of the Natural Park makes it necessary to draw up a new PORN that responds to the current planning and management needs of this protected natural area. This takes into account the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage as well as the sustainable socio-economic development of the area and its public use.

One of the main novelties is the integral protection of the dune systems, which now form part of the Natural Park. Thus, up to 116 hectares of eleven areas with the presence of this delicate habitat become exclusion zones. These include emblematic areas such as Cala Agulla, Cala Torta and Cala Mesquida. In this way, access to the public maritime-terrestrial domain, as well as passage along existing paths through other restricted access areas in the Natural Park, are guaranteed and regulated by the PORN.