ENVIRONMENT: TENERIFE

Tenerife is a part of the Macaronesian region, one of the world's most important bio-geographic regions for its flora and fauna. The volcanic activity has caused the soil to get very fertile resulting in thick forests with diverse species of plants and animals.

Almost half the area of the islands are protected. Teide at 12,200 feet is the tallest volcano in Spain and the region is protected as the Teide National Park. Surrounding the Teide National Park is the Corona Forest natural park with forests of Canaries pine. The island also has two rural parks, four integrated natural reserves, and six special natural reserves. These parks are an important reserve for endemic species of plants like the lauraceous trees, laurels, holly, linden and Teide violet, found only on the Teide volcano. The fauna of the region include blue finch, several varieties of turtle, the lagarto del Salmor, a large 3 foot long lizard, rare colonies of pilot whales and over 200 species of birds. Due to the endemic nature of its flora and fauna, the islands were declared a UNESCO world heritage site.