Editing Andalusia (section)

===Protected areas===
[[File:Andalucía parques.png|thumb|325px|[[National park]]s and [[Natural park (Spain)|natural parks]] in Andalusia.]]
Andalusia has many unique ecosystems. In order to preserve these areas in a manner compatible with both conservation and economic exploitation, many of the most representative ecosystems have been given protected status.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cma.junta-andalucia.es/medioambiente/site/web/menuitem.48ed6f0384107256b935619561525ea0/?vgnextoid=ab39185968f04010VgnVCM1000001625e50aRCRD&vgnextchannel=3259b19c7acf2010VgnVCM1000001625e50aRCRD&lr=lang_es |title=Espacios Protegidos |access-date=8 September 2008 |author=Consejería de Medio Ambiente (Junta de Andalucía)}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mulero |first=A. |chapter=Los espacios protegidos en Andalucía |title=Geografía de Andalucía (Coor. López Antonio) |year=2003 |publisher=Ariel Geografía |location=Barcelona |language=es |isbn=84-344-3476-8}}</ref>

The various levels of protection are encompassed within the Network of Protected Natural Spaces of Andalusia (Red de Espacios Naturales Protegidos de Andalucía, RENPA) which integrates all protected natural spaces located in Andalusia, whether they are protected at the level of the local community, the autonomous community of Andalusia, the Spanish state, or by international conventions. RENPA consists of 150 protected spaces, consisting of two [[List of national parks of Spain|national parks]], 24 [[natural park (Spain)|natural parks]], 21 periurban parks (on the fringes of cities or towns), 32 natural sites, two protected countrysides, 37 natural monuments, 28 nature reserves, and four concerted nature reserves (in which a government agency coordinates with the owner of the property for its management), all part of the [[European Union]]'s [[Natura 2000]] network. Under the international ambit are the nine [[Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme|Biosphere Reserves]], 20 [[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] wetland sites, four [[Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance]] and two [[UNESCO]] [[Geopark]]s.<ref name="renpa">{{cite web |url=http://www.cma.junta-andalucia.es/medioambiente/site/web/menuitem.a5664a214f73c3df81d8899661525ea0/?vgnextoid=0cbb7abc83414010VgnVCM1000000624e50aRCRD&vgnextchannel=3259b19c7acf2010VgnVCM1000001625e50aRCRD&lr=lang_es |title=La RENPA – Red de Espacios Naturales Protegidos de Andalucía |access-date=8 September 2008 |author=Consejería de Medio Ambiente (Junta de Andalucía)}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In total, nearly 20 percent of the territory of Andalusia lies in one of these protected areas, which constitute roughly 30 percent of the protected territory of Spain.<ref name="renpa" /> Among these many spaces, some of the most notable are the [[Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park]], Spain's largest natural park and the second largest in Europe, the [[Sierra Nevada National Park (Spain)|Sierra Nevada National Park]], [[Doñana National Park|Doñana National Park and Natural Park]], the [[Tabernas Desert]], and the [[Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park]], the largest terrestrial-maritime reserve in the European Western Mediterranean Sea.