Nature

The cocktail of geographical elements which come together in the Canaries has bestowed the islands with the best of its treasures, its Nature. The natural gift of the volcanoes, the special position of the islands on the globe and their climate marked by the trade winds have created a privileged natural environment and an object of study.

With 145 Protected Nature Areas, 40% of the archipelago's surface is protected under one or other of the different levels of protection established by the Law of Canarian Nature Areas and equally unique flora and fauna reside in these aforementioned areas.

As well as the above, the marine environment provides a unique natural home, with a multitude of indigenous species. However, not only are the archipelago's surface and waters unique and protected but its clear skies are too. The land, sea and sky together form an equal and fragile landscape: a landscape which forms the backdrop to life in the Canaries; a landscape which informs us of the past and on which the future depends.

The islands as a whole are characterised by important individual distinctions in their natural environment. This has consequently brought about the protection of 40% of the islands' surface, a total of 301 162 hectares, the latter is the present figure, a figure which is increasing. The protection is not standard throughout the territory, but has up to eight different levels.

The classification is recorded in the Canarian Law of Natural Areas, (12/1994, 19th December, concerning Canarian Natural Areas), which annulled the former autonomous law of 1987 and developed the national law (Law, 4/1989, of Conservation of Natural Areas and Wild Flora and Fauna). These laws added seven new categories to the already existing one of National Park, a protective form, the declaration of which remains in State hands. With the national parks, the protected areas in the Canaries have increased to 145.

The Canaries is the second place in the World, in terms of numbers of visitors, (around 800 000 tourists per year), for whale spotting. This activity generates business close to twelve million euros per year for the tourist sector.

Within the islands, this type of attraction is focused around the southeast of Tenerife and the sea which separates it from La Gomera. More than 20 boats are licensed to make the crossing to the large colony of pilot whales ('Globicephala macrorhynchus'), of which there are 550 members, as well as another 24 species of the 78 sea mammals which exist in the World. Amongst these species in the Canaries, are, Bottlenose dolphins ('Tursipas trunatus') and Blue whales ('Physeter macroephalus').

The importance and amount of business, the experienced increase (a twelve-fold increase in the number of watchers in four years: from 40 000 in 1991 to 500 000 in 1995) and the possible repercussions that this could have had on the conservation of the mammal colony meant that in 1995, the Canarian Government decreed a Law which established a series of basic criteria for regulating whale watching.

This law introduced three basic premises: the need to have authorisation from the Canarian Government's vice-advisory body for the environment in order to be able to carry out the aforementioned activity; the presence on board of a monitor and an obligatory Code of Conduct which states the rules of behaviour with the animals, the way in which to approach the animals and the minimum distance which the boats must remain from the animals.

Presently, the regional government is studying the possibility of converting the area into a whale sanctuary and including it in the Canarian network of protected areas. The government is also studying the consequential effects on tourism. The paths of two shipping lines that carry one to one and a half million passengers per year betweeen between Tenerife and La Gomera must be taken into account. Furthermore, in this area there are around 36 000 underwater wrecks deteriorating at the hands of the environment.

The Environmental Advisory Body is also studying the possibility of imposing a fee of one euro per tourist whale watching, an activity which also occurs in the south of La Gomera, off the east coast of La Palma and in the south of Gran Canaria.

Making up 1.5% of Spain's national territory, the Canaries are home to half the country's endemic flora and up to a fifth of all the habitats referred to in the EEC directive for Spain. The high level of endemic flora and fauna, found in the Canaries' protected areas, gives the archipelago scientific relevance and characterises it as an ecological reserve.

If one examines the islands in terms of their height, then five ecosystems can be distinguished. From seal level to the summit of the islands there are: base level, 'bosque termofilo' (forest composed of flora endemic to the Mediterranean and North Africa), green mountains, pine forest and high mountains.

Volcanic activity is clearly perceptible in the landscape and in the structure and formation of the Canary Islands. The magma has created 'malpaises' (areas of blackened earth caused by cooled lava), lava flows and rocks. Explosive eruptions have been the cause of the most characteristic canyons of the archipelago and erosion has caused the rest; including sheer cliffs, beaches and ravines. In some places, as in Lanzarote, the attractive countryside caused by volcanic activity has been exploited for tourist means.

The formation of the islands has and continues to be a controversial issue. There is no general consensus of opinion regarding the scientific explanation, although there are various theories. Everyone supports the excepted 'Tectonic Plate theory' according to which, the archipelago is located inside the African plate, in a contact zone between the Atlantic shelf and the African continent. There are three main hypotheses or theories which try to explain the formation of the islands.

The Canaries have always provoked special interest in travellers, naturalists and scientists, due to the marvels of the countryside and to the ecological richness and uniqueness of the islands species. The Canaries constitute a milestone in the history of the Natural Sciences and its fame as a travel destination began with the large scientific explorations of the 18th and 19th centuries. Practically all the great naturalists of the these centuries visited and carried out research in the archipelago.

The fact that the Canaries are islands has favoured evolutionary processes which have resulted in both new animal species and endemic plant species. The climate has allowed species to survive in the Canaries, species on the verge of extinction and which do not survive outside the islands but which were previously much more widespread, as in the case of the laurel forest which disappeared from the Mediterranean valleys millions of years ago.

At the same time, their volcanic origins and the 'Teide’ in Tenerife, which for a long time was considered the tip of the World at least by the Europeans, has also aroused the curiosity of scientists. Thus, the study of flora and fauna has also incorporated other disciplines like geology and astrophysics which has turned the archipelago into a first class observatory. As a result of all of the above, during the 20th Century and up until the present day, the Canaries continue to be a privileged location for scientific research.