Biosphere Reserve of La Gomera

The Biosphere Reserves are terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems or a combination of both, internationally recognized as such in the frame of the Man and Biosphere Programme of the UNESCO. (M&b)

Every Biosphere Reserve needs to have three basic functions which are complementary, the conservation, development and logistics (support to projects for investigation). The Biosphere Reserves promote the conservation of the biological natural and cultural diversity, the research, the education and training, the citizen participation and international cooperation.

The Biosphere Reserve of La Gomera shelters the entire island and a great part of the northeastern and south coasts. This Reserve settles on an extraordinary group of cultural values, wealth of landscapes and ecosystems. The island was declared Biosphere Reserve in July 2012.

At present, there are 4.182 species, 1021 out of them are endemic species and 264 only exist in La Gomera. It is one of the territories in the European Union with the greatest number of endemism per square kilometer and preserves the greatest and widest example of Canary
“Laurisilva”, a living fossil from the Tertiary Period.

On the other side, all the geography in the island of La Gomera shows uncountable and varied examples of cultural and traditional heritage related to the little villages that are spread around the island.