La Palma Biosphere Reserve

The entire Canary Island of La Palma is a biosphere reserve .

history

In 1983 UNESCO declared an area of around 511 hectares in the El Canal and Los Tiles area to be a biosphere reserve. The protection goal was the preservation of the laurel forest .

In 1997 the area was expanded to a size of approximately 138 km².

Its current size of around 807 km² was established in 2002. About 708 km² of this is accounted for by the island's land mass, the remainder by part of the marine protected areas around the island.

Protection zones

The biosphere reserve is divided into three zones: a core zone, a buffer zone and a development zone.

Core zone

The core zone consists of areas that are already under special protection: the Caldera de Taburiente National Park , the Pinar de Garafía nature reserve , the Guelguén species reserve , the areas of scientific importance Juan Mayor and Barranco del Agua and the core zones of the Cumbre Vieja and Las nature parks Nieves and the La Palma Marine Reserve .

Buffer zone (maintenance zone)

The buffer zone encloses the core zone. It consists of the other IUCN nature and landscape protection areas of the island: the natural monuments Montaña de Azufre , Volcanes de Aridane , Risco de La Concepción , Costa de Hiscaguán , Barranco del Jorado , Volcanes de Teneguía and Tubo Volcánico de Todoque , the Protected Landscapes El Tablado, Barranco de Las Angustias, Tamanca and El Remo as well as the other areas of the Natural Park and the Marine Reserve. Natural use takes place here, which is compatible with the protection goals, e.g. B. gentle tourism, agriculture and fishing.