HAUTE-SOULE MOUNTAINS Description and situation Located in the Atlantic department, in the region of , this space includes the municipalities of , , Licq-Athérey and Sainte- Engrace. Surface area 14, 750 ha Protection status ZEC-NATURA 2000 (FR7200750) Other regional or national protections In this area, there are 6 Natural Zones of Ecological, Fauna and Flora Interest. 1% of its surface is included in a Natural Government Preserve. Main uses Mainly livestock and forestry. There is also high public use. Ownership Mainly public. Habitats targeted by LIFE (4030) Dry European heath, (6230) plant formations with Nardus.

The "Alta Zuberoa Mountains" are dominated by the Orhy, Anie and Escaliers peaks. The space is a mosaic of pastures and mixed forests, which endows this ZEC with very diverse habitats, with great ecological wealth. This Pyrenees zone hosts some of the best beech forests in all of Europe.

Mammals in this space include the Pyrenean desman, an endangered species due to the vulnerability of the river habitats where it lives. Bat species such as the greater mouse- eared bat and the horseshoe bat can also be found. Also of importance are the saproxylic invertebrates of community interest, such as the Rosalia alpina. Regarding the species included in the Habitats Directive, the presence of the Dicranum viride moss has been observed. The site contributes large mountain pasture surfaces to the Red Natura 2000, yet there is no Pasture Management Plan. The shepherding tradition stretches far back in Haute Soule, structured around the use of pasture units. These units are made up of a cabin with a corral (or "Cayolar") owned by the shepherds, and of the grazing zone, owned by the pasture manager (trade committee of Soule or municipalities).

The main production is sheep milk. Although some youth are undertaking the practise again, cheese manufacture in the mountain has been greatly reduced, and the pasture usage period has been reduced along with it, and some shepherds are abandoning transhumance.

Burning pasture or brush, especially gorse, is widely practised at the beginning or end of winter. Harvesting and collecting ferns to be used as a bed for livestock is an agricultural activity that also helps to maintain open spaces. This traditional activity is increasingly less common.

The LIFE activities -Monitoring feed production in habitats 4030 and 6230 under different management conditions (burns, brush clearing or livestock load). - Monitoring the evolution of vegetation depending on different ways of managing the habitats of community interest.