No. 2 - Its Gran Canaria Magazine

24
By www.grancanaria.com
GET TO KNOW GRAN CANARIA I CONOCE GRAN CANARIA Nº 2
Gran Canaria is a
World Biosphere Reserve
Nature in Gran Canaria has been providing
joy for its inhabitants for hundreds
of years. The first joy is the wonderful
climate that can be enjoyed all
through the year. The fine weather
makes life peaceful and friendly; although
it is not only a good climate
we are referring to when we say that
nature has been kind to Gran Canaria.
Gran Canaria is a miniature continent,
with a range of quite uncommon
landscapes, within a hugely diverse
archipelago. For this reason, Unesco
decided to award the island the seal
of Biosphere Reserve, to actively support
the conservation of the pieces
of this great puzzle with all its natural
settings, a different and particular
micro-world. The Reserve covers
nearly half of Gran Canaria's land surface
area, covering six rurally populated
areas that are linked to traditional
activities.
But what is it about Gran Canaria's
natural qualities that deserve such
recognition by Unesco? Firstly, the
island constitutes a theme park for
the weird and magical flora of the
Macaronesia region, an open area
that guards a treasure trove of plants
and flowers that grew independently
from the rest of the world. This is
a natural world that has been doing
its own thing for centuries, sheltered
among the changing mountainous
locations.
Caldera de Bandama
It is precisely in its mountainous relief,
in its special geomorphologic
configuration, where another of Gran
Canaria's particular features resides,
in the form of an immense erosive
crater that dominates the centre
of the island, the Caldera de Tejeda,
off which a string of rain-drainage
channels wind their way down through
the ravines and into the sea. As a
whole, Gran Canaria can be considered
a massif that rises up from sea level
to 1,949 metres altitude at Pico de
Las Nieves.
The island's altitude and its steep,
mountainous relief have forged a
whole host of microclimates and habitats.
In this regard, the southwest
of Gran Canaria is a standout region,
as it has kept its unspoilt, natural surroundings
for many centuries. This
area is home to large expansions of
Canary pine woodland, a tree with
quite peculiar characteristics that
make it unique around the world. Human
activity has also left its mark on
the surrounding environment, to the
extent which it is hard to differenciate
between the elements introduced
by man and the island's own natural
landscape. This all makes for a highly
peculiar patchwork of landscapes,
now being painstakingly looked after
for the future generations.
Puerto de Agaete
Gran Canaria's characteristic as an
island of contrasts is repeated along
its coast. From the seashore and up
to 300 metres altitude, the relief is
typically arid and hyper-arid, featuring
cardon and tabaiba plants, while
ravine and valley beds are filled with
palm groves, together with tarahales
and sauzales. The coastline features
large expanses of submerged deltas,
underwater volcanic lava flows, huge
cliffs and interconnected sand banks.
This whole area oozes a wealth of natural
biodiversity, including the loggerhead
tortoise, the bottlenose dolphin
and Risso's dolphin. They come
together every day, in a new representation.
A thousand climates and
a thousand natural species are dance
partners on this Biosphere Reserve
island.
Ruta del Tajinaste Azul