Garajonay National Park

Garajonay National Park
Coordinates: 28 ° 6 '36 "  N , 17 ° 14' 52.8"  W.
Location:	Canary Islands , Spain
Specialty:	Canarian laurel forest
Next city:	San Sebastian de La Gomera
Surface:	3,984 ha
Founding:	March 25, 1981
Visitors:	825,638 (2011)
Address:	National Park Administration Apdo de Correos 92 E-38800 San Sebastián de la Gomera Tel. [phone]

The Garajonay National Park ( Spanish Parque Nacional de Garajonay ) is located in the middle of the Canary Island of La Gomera .

With a size of 3,984 hectares , the national park founded in 1981 covers 10 percent of this island. Its special ecosystem was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 . Since 1988 the area has also been a European bird sanctuary .

Landscape genesis

La Gomera is of volcanic origin; the last volcanic eruption occurred two million years ago. By water erosion has formed on the island a steep relief, which is crossed by deep canyons. Characteristic are the volcanic vents , known as “Roques” and exposed by erosion .

The forests in the park are a relic of the subtropical laurel forests that were common in Europe and the Mediterranean region ( southern Europe , North Africa and Southwest Asia ) during the Tertiary period . While in Europe these plants disappeared through the ice ages (in the Mediterranean area during the last ice age), this plant community was able to survive partly on La Gomera, on the other Canary Islands , as well as on Madeira and the Azores ( Macaronesian Islands ).

The national park comprises the central plateau of the island with the 1,487 meter high Garajonay and the steep island flanks adjoining it to the north, where dense trade winds often form as the damp trade winds cool down when the damp trade winds rise. When the moisture in the clouds condenses on the lush vegetation, it is also called horizontal rain . The soil absorbs the water like a sponge, which can lead to a not inconsiderable amount of groundwater. The stored water, which seeps away quickly during the rainy season, comes back to the surface from countless sources.

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  Juego de Bolas visitor center

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  Laurisilva, laurel forest

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  Small Canary Lizard ( Gallotia caesaris gomerae )

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  Thick-leaf family in the Garajonay National Park

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  Roque Ojila

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  Roque de Agando

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  Roque de La Zarcita

In the national park area there are moderate temperatures with an average of 14 to 15 ° C. The precipitation values ​​are 600 to 900 mm per year. Most of the rainfall occurs in autumn and winter.

flora

85 percent of the national park area is covered with Canarian jungle. The heart of the national park consists of an evergreen cloud forest with ferns up to two meters high , long beard lichens hanging from the trees and gnarled branches overgrown with moss .

The almost 1,500 meter high massif acts as a weather divide . The north side is much more humid, while it gets drier to the south. Due to the aforementioned accumulation of the trade winds on the north side, trees up to 30 meters high still grow here, as they were to be found in the Mediterranean area millions of years ago, when a warm, humid climate made it possible for lush primeval forests to flourish. This includes the fairytale laurel forest (Spanish Laurisilva) El Cedro , more than half of which grows on La Gomera.

The higher you go up the slopes in Garajonay National Park, the lower the forest becomes. It merges into an approximately 3 to 10 meter high bush forest, which is mainly composed of tree heather (Erica arborea) and the endemic gale tree ( Morella faya ), but also of Montpellier rockrose ( Cistus monspeliensis ) and two endemic species of gorse ( Adenocarpus foliolosus and Chamaecytisus proliferus ).

fauna

More than 1,000 animal species live in the national park, including over 150 endemic species. Nowhere in Europe do you find so many endemic species per unit area. The only mammals that came to the island without human intervention were bats . Among the birds, the Bolles laurel dove (Columba bollii) and the laurel dove (Columba junoniae) stand out. In addition, reptiles such as the small canary lizard (Gallotia caesaris gomerae) , the canary skink (Chalcides viridanus coeruleopunctatus) and amphibians such as the Mediterranean tree frog (Hyla meridionalis) occur in the park . The majority of the animals in the national park are invertebrates .

Protection and Tourism

Entrance to the Garajonay National Park Visitor Center

After the Canary Islands were conquered by the Europeans in the 15th century, the original forest area of ​​90,000 hectares, which at that time made up 10 percent of the Canaries, shrank to just under 17,000 hectares today. On La Gomera, with the help of the national park, around half of its original laurel forests are still preserved. Almost one million visitors visit the national park every year.

The Juego de Bolas visitor center is located outside the park in La Palmita-Agulo . It is built in the Canarian style and offers exhibitions and films about the national park, as well as the history and culture of the island. The garden of the visitor center is designed as a botanical garden and shows many plants native to La Gomera.

The legend of Gara and Jonay

The beautiful princess Gara lived on La Gomera before the Spanish conquest in the 15th century. She fell in love with the poor farmer's son Jonay from Tenerife . Out of love, he drove daily on a raft to the neighboring island to meet his beloved. But the connection was not a lucky star: A priest predicted great disaster for the two. When they both wanted to say yes to marriage, the prophecy seemed to come true. A strong earthquake shook Tenerife. The Teide volcano spat lava , the sea around La Gomera turned blood red, and the island began to glow. The noble family of the princess then tried to prevent the marriage of the two and forcibly brought Jonay back to Tenerife. However, his love was so great that a few weeks later he landed again on La Gomera. Together the couple fled to the highlands and hid in the thick forests high up on the island. When neither of them could see a way out of their love, they took a lance made of laurel wood, pointed at both ends, and thrust it through their chests. The lovers went to their deaths in a deep embrace.

This is just one version of a few different ones of this legend. But since then, the Gomeros say, the highest mountain and today's national park on La Gomera has been called Garajonay . There are also Princess Gara and poor Jonay as stone sculptures in the national park.

Web links

Commons : Garajonay National Park  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• World Database on Protected Areas - Garajonay National Park (English)
• Unesco World Heritage List (English)
• Unesco World Heritage National Park Garajonay (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Spanish Ministry of the Environment: Evolución del número de visitantes ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Information leaflet from the National Park Administration
3. ↑ Information leaflet from the National Park Administration