El Foix Protected Natural Area

The Parc del Foix is the most important wetland area of the Alt Penedès. It is a natural park of 3,157 hectares spread over the municipalities of Castellet i la Gornal and Santa Margarida i els Monjos. Within this area is the Foix reservoir, which gathers the waters from the river with the same name and from various arroyos or washes, such as Pontons and Marmellar. The Parc del Foix has a wide variety of ecological environments, due to its condition of humid ecosystem within a context of dry lands. The flora and fauna responds to this dichotomy, in that riverbank, reservoir, arroyo and forest ecosystems coincide. Within the territory there are two exceptional architectural attractions: the castles of Castellet and Penyafort. With regard to the morphology, the territory of the Parc del Foix belongs to the Garraf massif and is a mountainous and wooded area of transition between the plain of inland Penedès and the coastal plain. With regard to the vegetation, four large areas can be distinguished: the western most sector, where dry farming predominates with some irrigation and intensive farming along the last meanders of the Foix river, just before the reservoir; the northern sector, where the abandonment of farming has led to the recovery of the natural vegetation, although due to the soil conditions no forests have grown; the southern sector, where there is mixed forest of holm oak and pine, and the eastern sector, where bushy vegetation dominates. With regard to the fauna that populates the park, the aquatic animals are the most representative: fish such as carp, eel or chub, turtles, water snakes and other reptiles and amphibians abound. In addition, some 150 species of bird have been catalogued, which exceeds 200 during migration periods.

On the map

What do you want to do?