Gran Canaria Biosphere Reserve

The Gran Canaria Biosphere Reserve was declared a Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO in 2005. It spans across 43% of the island's territory and a large marine area on the southwest coast.

Gran Canaria is located in the archipelago of the Canary Islands, between Fuerteventura and Tenerife. The island, of volcanic origin, has a rounded shape and its highest point is located in the centre, at Pico de las Nieves (1,949 meters), with a conical-shaped topography. Its altitude and the characteristics of its peculiar relief make possible the existence of different microclimates and habitats. Thus, due to its enormous diversity of landscapes, Gran Canaria is known by the nickname “continent in miniature”: From ravines and mountain peaks, to beaches, forests and cliffs. Almost half of its 1,560 square kilometres of territory are within the Biosphere Reserve area that covers, in the southwest of the island, the municipalities of Aldea de San Nicolás, Artenara and Tejeda; the entire region of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Agaete and Mogán located at an altitude above 300 metres; the marine strip; and a small part of the Vega de San Mateo, in the centre of the island, included within the El Nublo Rural Park. This area includes natural parks such as Inagua, Tamadaba and Pilancones and the immense depression of the Tejada Basin, from whose mountains a stormwater drainage network runs through the ravines and agricultural valleys to the coast. In general, three types of ecosystems are distinguished: an arid and semi-arid environment, with vegetation dominated by cardones and tabaibas; a sub-humid environment, characterised by Canary Island pine forests (a unique species in the world); and a humid transitional environment, with fayal-brezal vegetation and vestiges of laurisilva. The biodiversity of its coastline is also rich, with populations of loggerhead turtles and cetaceans such as the bottlenose dolphin and the Risso's pilot whale.