MUST SEE: LAUREL FOREST IN SAO VICENTE,
MADEIRA ๐ต๐น PORTUGAL
Portugal’s Madeira Island is an island in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa.ย Madeira itself is a sight to behold.ย The volcanic island erupted in the Ocean during the Miocene Epoch about twenty million years ago.ย After the lava cooled and erosion shaped the island.
The highest point on the island stands at 1,862 metres (6,109 feet) and the distance to Madeiraโs submerged base at the bottom of the Atlantic is just over 6,000 metres (about 20,000 feet).
The spectacular landscape of the Laurisilva Forest is a strongly scented, integral part of Madeiraย Island’s landscape.ย Its lush vegetation hides the fascinating indigenous laurel forest, recognized by UNESCO in 1999 as Natural Heritage of Humanity. The Laurisilva of Madeira is an outstanding relic of a previously widespread laurel forest type.ย Historians believe that forty million years ago up until the last Ice Age there were great swaths of Laurisilva forest covering much of southern Europe.ย However, today this ecosystem is mostly confined to the three Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira, Azores, and the Canaries.
The Laurisilva Forest of Madeira is the largest surviving area of laurel forest and is believed to be 90% primary forest meaning the trees in this forest have never been cut down.ย This forest area dates back to the dinosaurs and has somehow survived almost six hundred years of human habitation. The forest contains a unique suite of plants and animals, including many endemic species such as the Madeiran long-toed pigeon. Madeira is โฆ World Heritage
The Laurisilva Forest is not only a UNESCO site preserved for it’s unique beauty and as an example of primary forest; this forest is also it is a precious mass of fertile forest that plays an increasingly important role in maintaining the islandโs hydrological balance and biological diversity.
The Laurisilva Forest of Madeira has long played and important role to the islanders.ย Much of the forest is criss-crossed by a network of irrigation channels known as Ievadas which carry water from the fertile north to the more arid regions on the south side of the island.
Laboriously cut from the sturdy mountain rock to transport water to the islandโs plantations and hydro-electric power stations, the levadas date right back to the islandโs very first settlers in the early 15thย century.
Today, the the levadas still play an essential role in the cultivation of a variety of crops, including bananas, grapes (used for making Madeira wine), sugar cane and passion fruit, that grow in abundance all over the island.
Interested in learning more of the history of this special place, click this link:
https://viajealpatrimonio.com/listing/laurisilva-de-madeira/