Garajonay

Garajonay occupies the central plateau and the ravine headwaters of La Gomera. Its value lies in preserving the best-conserved stand of laurisilva in the world, an evergreen, lauroid cloud forest that was common around the Mediterranean basin during the Tertiary and that vanished from the continent with the Quaternary cooling. Here it survives thanks to the trade wind: the moisture it carries condenses as it meets the relief and feeds the forest through what is called horizontal rain, which the leaves and mosses intercept and drip to the ground. The result is a permanently damp, shaded environment dominated by laurels, viñátigo, til and tree heath draped in lichen. The vertebrate fauna is sparse but highly distinctive, with the endemic Bolle's and laurel pigeons as its emblematic species, and an invertebrate community with a high degree of endemism. A fire in 2012 affected part of the park, and its recovery is being followed closely.