Volcanic areas create spectacular landscapes that contain a great diversity of geoheritage. The study of this geoheritage enables us to inventory, characterise, protect and manage its geodiversity. The Canary Islands are a group of subtropical active volcanic oceanic islands with a great variety of magma types and eruption dynamics that give rise to a wide diversity of volcanic features and processes. The aim of this paper is to identify, for the first time, the diversity of volcanic geoheritage of the Canary Islands and to appraise the protection thereof. To this end, a geomorphological classification is proposed, taking into account the features and processes directly related to volcanism, such as those resulting from erosion and sedimentary processes. The main findings demonstrate that the volcanic geoheritage of the Canary Islands is extremely varied and that this geodiversity is safeguarded by regional, national and, international protection and management frameworks. Even so, and given the enormous pressure of coastal tourism on the coastlines of the islands, we believe that continuing efforts should be made to conserve and manage their volcanic and non-volcanic geoheritage, so that these places can continue to be enjoyed in the form of geotourism.
The Chinyero Special Nature Reserve is located on the NW rift zone of Tenerife, between 600 and 1500 m above sea level. This natural setting is distinguished by a significant concentration of monogenetic basaltic volcanoes that have erupted in recent and historical times, including Garachico (1706) and Chinyero (1909). The volcanic landscapes of this protected area are part of the Canary Island pine forest ecosystem and, therefore, also feature beautiful forests colonising the newly formed layers of volcanic materials. The aim of this paper is to design a geographical route through the landscape for geotourism purposes, based on a global and coherent interpretation of the original physiognomy of a landscape that has been decisively shaped by volcanic phenomena. This nature trail represents a proposal for a new tourism product as an alternative to the traditional “sun and beach” coastal tourism product. This paper comprises a first stage, dedicated to the geographical study of the landscape, and a second stage focused on designing a geotourism route, which will identify and characterise the elements of the natural and cultural heritage of the area and its unique landforms.
<p>Although volcanoes present a risk to society, they also represent an opportunity for the development and socio-economic sustainability of their territories. Its main benefits are associated with the diversity of resources offered by volcanic landscapes: geothermal energy, agriculture, building materials, tourism, etc. The volcanic nature of the Macaronesia region (Azores, Madeira, Canarias and Cape Verde archipelagos) constitutes an important geoturistic claim as a result of the great beauty and the landscape diversity of the volcanic territories, offering the possibility of experiencing closely the force of nature and the cultural and spiritual wealth of the population that lives in safe conditions thanks to the existence of programs aimed at reducing volcanic risk. The objective of the VOLTURMAC project (MAC2 / 4.6c / 298), funded by the INTERREG VA Spain-Portugal MAC 2014-2020 Territorial Cooperation Program, is to contribute to the strengthening of the conservation, protection, promotion and development of natural and cultural heritage associated with the volcanic phenomenon in Macaronesia through tourism volcano and contribute to the diversification of the tourist offer of the four Macaronesian archipelagos. To achieve the main objective of this project, nine different activities are proposed and grouped around three main axes: (1) analyze, evaluate and identify the potential of volcano-tourism in Macaronesia; (2) create geo-itineraries and touristic geo-routes that value the natural and cultural resources of the volcanic landscapes of Macaronesia by identifying, selecting, mapping and evaluating geosites, geomorphosites and sites of geotourist interest (SGIs) and (3) promoting and strengthening training on natural and cultural resources linked to the volcanic phenomenon in the tourism sector for all tourism actors, but with special relevance for those in the business field and tourist guides. (Volturmac-MAC2/4.6c/298).</p>
<p>Tenerife is the largest (2034 km<sup>2</sup>), and the highest (3718 m a.s.l.) island of the Canary. It has been built up as a result of the accumulation of different volcanic materials during the last 12 million years. In Tenerife it can be recognized different morphostructures: three shield volcanoes (Anaga, Teno and Adeje), two volcanic ridges (Pedro Gil and Abeque), a important volcanic field in the south of the island, a central caldera (Las Ca&#241;adas), a complex stratovolcano (Teide-Pico Viejo) and hundreds of cinder or scoria monogentic cones scattered throughout the island's geography. Despite this geological and volcanic richness, geological heritage is currently given less importance than biogegraphical heritage when identifying, defining and catalogue natural areas to protect (NPA). The objective of this work is to obtain the classification of geomorphological heritage of the total NPAs of the island and show the importance that these volcanic forms and their processes have in the natural landscapes of Tenerife. In this work we utilized the methodology elaborated by Serrano and Gonz&#225;lez (2014) and involves a three-way comparison of the different values of the geomorphosites: scientific, cultural and use and management values. The values of geomorphological heritage are expressed from 1 to 5. Tenerife has forty-three NPAs with a total of more than 110,098 hectares, which represents more than 49% of its surface. The variety of NPAs are: one National Park, ten Natural Reserves, one Natural Park, two Rural Park, fourteen Natural Monuments, nine Protected Landscapes and six Sites of scientific interest. In general, the NPAs shows the geodiversity of Tenerife&#180;s volcanism with average scientific (1.5), cultural (1.8) and use (2.6) values. These data show the importance of geoheritage in the NPAs of Tenerife (shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes, volcanic ridges, scoria cones, lava fields, hornitos, lava tubes, lava deltas, calderas, ravines, cliffs, beaches, dunes, etc.), but we can&#180;t avoid the human intervention on several characteristics at these areas with cultural values over than scientific (mythos, legends, archaeological sites, traditional construction, crops, livestock, etc.). The geomorphological heritage analysis expressed the relationship between of the volcanic natural heritage and the humans. (Volturmac-MAC2/4.6c/298).</p>
The aim of this chapter is to characterise the vegetation landscapes of El Hierro’s Geopark, highlighting the important role played by the island’s volcanic morphology in the richness and diversity of its landscapes. To this end, some of its most representative vegetation landscapes have been selected at various spatial scales, recognising their main discontinuities and internal organisation, and identifying the integrated combinations of the geographical factors that determine them have been identified, with special interest in the volcanic morphostructural conditioning factors. This work has required photointerpretation of aerial images and consultation of the WMS (Web Map Service) of IdeCanarias, as well as field work for the preparation of vegetation profiles and floristic-physiognomic inventories. Active volcanic areas are distinguished by being some of the most dynamic types of landscape on the planet. In this sense, the study of the vegetation landscapes of the small island of El Hierro allows us to discover how volcanic morphogenesis can extraordinarily diversify island landscapes.
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