National Parks
Caldera de Taburiente
By m.p. - Jul 9, 2007 - 8:12 PM
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The Caldera de Taburiente National Park, one of four national parks on the Canary Islands, covers an extensive area in the centre of the island of La Palma. It’s dominated by an enormous crater in the form of a horseshoe, with a diameter of eight kilometres, and a circumference of twenty eight.
The highest peaks found on the island surround this vast sunken crater, one of the largest erosion craters in the world: El Roque de los Muchachos, at 2,426 metres high, and Pico de la Cruz, at 2,351 metres.
The park’s spectacular landscape was formed over the centuries by numerous volcanic eruptions, massive landslides, and the erosive effect of water and time. Its sheer landscape, with a drop of up to two kilometres, is criss-crossed by a network of streams and stunning waterfalls which continue to erode the rock, together with fascinating geological formations such as pillow lava, volcanic cones and the vertical walls, or dykes.
Covering an area of 4,690 hectares, a large part of the Caldera de Taburiente National Park is covered with swathes of the native Canary Island pine. Other flora seen here include the Amagante, Spanish broom, Canary cedar and Canary Island willow.
A number of endangered native plant species grow on the high peaks: the viola palmensis, bencomia exstipulata, and echium gentianoides.
The fauna includes 25 species of birds, amongst them many endemic to the Macaronesia grouping of islands, such as the white-tailed laurel pigeon, the canary, Berthelot’s pipit, and the plain swift. There are also three species of bat, two of them endemic to the Macaronesia, and to the Canary Islands themselves.
Reptiles include the Southern Tenerife Lizard and the Tenerife Gecko.
An original area of 3,750 hectares was declared as La Caldera de Taburiente National Park in 1954. It was extended to its current size of 4,690 hectares in 1981, and is surrounded by an additional 5,956 hectares, which form an area of peripheral protection.
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