Editing Castile and León (section)

====Flora====
[[File:Raices de tejo en el hayedo otoñal. La Cotorra de Escobaño. Oseja de Sajambre (León). Parque Nacional Picos de Europa. ES000003. ROSUROB.JPG|thumb|right| [[Canal de Asotín|Canal de Asotín Beech]], a [[Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe|UNESCO World Heritage Natural Site]].]]
Castile and León has many protected [[natural landscapes|natural sites]]. Actively collaborates with the [[European Union]] program ''[[Natura 2000]]''. There are also some [[Special Protection Area|special protection area for birds]] or SPA.
The solitary [[Quercus ilex|evergreen oak]]s and [[juniper]]s (''Juniperus sect. Sabina'') that now draw the Castilian-Leonese plain are remnants of the [[forest]]s that covered these same lands long ago. The agricultural holdings, due to the need of land for the cultivation of cereal and pastures for the immense herds of the Castilian Plateau, supposed the [[deforestation]] of these lands during the [[Middle Ages]]. The last Castilian and Leonese forests of junipers are found in the provinces of León, Soria and Burgos. They are not very leafy forests that can form mixed communities with evergreen oaks, [[Portuguese oak]]s or [[pine]]s.

[[File:Hoces del Duratón.jpg|thumb|left| [[Hoces del Río Duratón Natural Park]]]]
The Castilian-Leonese slope of the Cantabrian Mountains and the northern foothills of the [[Sistema Ibérico]] have a rich vegetation. The most humid and fresh slopes are populated by large [[beech]]es, whose extension areas can reach 1,500 m altitude. In turn, the [[Fagus sylvatica|European beech]] forms mixed forests with the [[Taxus baccata|yew]], the [[sorbus]], the [[Sorbus aria|whitebeam]], the [[Ilex aquifolium|European holly]] and the [[birch]]. On the sunny slopes the [[Quercus petraea|sessile oak]], the [[Quercus robur|European oak]], the [[Fraxinus|ash]], the [[Tilia|lime tree]], the [[Castanea sativa|sweet chestnut]], the [[birch]] and the [[scots pine]] (a typical species from the north of the province of León).