In 2000 It was designated a Special Protection Area (SPA) for bird-life (reference number ES4140011) under the European Union's Birds Directive.

Since 2010 the European Union's LIFE programme has supported a recovery plan for this subspecies, "Urgent measures scheme for the conservation of the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) and its habitat in the Cantabrian mountains".

This project was scheduled to run until 2014 across SPAs and Biosphere reserves in the region, and the natural park has been identified as a suitable site for the bird's reintroduction.

[6] Since 2009 the LIFE Programme has supported conservation work in the Cantabrian Mountains to enhance wildlife corridors with the aim of encouraging a natural flow of bears between sub-populations.

Environmentalists have disputed the economics of the project as, according to official predictions, the duration of seasonal snow cover in the Cantabrian mountains was likely to be adversely affected by global warming.

As at July 2010 the regional government was planning to submit a revised proposal to the European Union in the hope that it would not conflict with the Habitats Directive.