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Dune park: Introducctoon
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CIELGA (Center of Interpretation of the Galician Coastal Ecosystem)
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The Dune Complex of Corrubedo and the Lagoons ofCarregal and Vixán were declared Natural Park the 5th of June 1992; and about eight months later it became part of RAMSAR agreement (internationaly important marshes). A natural park is a surface of territory with a high degree of virginity that deserves preferred attention in its conservation, due to its aesthetic, ecological and scientific values. This Complex occupies a 1000 hectare (2471 acres) area and it is located amongst the parishes of Corrubedo, Artes and Carreira.
In this Park we found a reception centre for visitors, the Coast House, where the biologists of the Complex offer all the information that visitors (about 250,000 every year) wish to find. 20 meters away is the CIELGA (Center of Interpretation of the Galician Coastal Ecosystem), a space with exhibitions about certain aspects - biological or botanical - of the Dune Park.
The 5 km. long coast, conformed in its origin by sedimentaly sandy soils, is a little rough. The transport exerted by the wind has allowed the development of several coastal dune cords, many of them stabilized by vegetation. Its necessary to mention the movil dune, the greatest one in the northewest side of the peninsula and also the great attraction of the park, 1'2 km long, 250 m. wide and 15 high in its most elevated points. The airflows drag the sand towards the interior, northeastern direction, at a rate of 2/3 cm. per year
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| O Vilar Beach, the most significant one in the park. |
The aforesaid dune cord has been the cause, in an immensely slow process, of a water stagnation that formed the lagoon of Carregal. This one was communicated with the sea by a set of channels; the zone is flooded and drained depending on the intertidal regime, conforming this way a salt marsh.
The lagoon of Vixán, originated by means of a similar process, communicates with the sea only in the equinoccial periods. The fresh water of this lagoon confers really different ecological characteristics to it, as the previous one has salubrious water (salty and sweet mix).
Flora and fauna shows as much richness as the beautiful landscapes do all over the Complex. This ecosystem, in which a particular tropical microclimate is registered, represents 1,300 km of Galician coast, because of its biodiversity, as much animal as vegetal kingdoms. There are unique birds, and it can be distinguished among the vegetation some zones of crowd, forest of shore (willows, elm trees)... Really, a sample of almost all the own vegetal communities of the salt marshes, lagoons and sandy grounds of the Galician coast are found here.
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