Flora of the Canary Islands. Geography of the Canary Islands: La Gomera. Flora and vegetation of the Canary Islands

La Gomera

     La Gomera has an area of 369.76 km². Its highest point is Garajonay Peak, which rises 1,487 m above sea level and forms part of Garajonay National Park. The island is around 12 million years old. It is also known as the ‘Columbian Island’, as it was where Christopher Columbus stocked up on provisions before setting sail for the New World in 1492.
     The island’s official population stands at 22,162. In the 1950s, the population reached around 30,000.
     La Gomera is home to Garajonay National Park, established in 1981 and subsequently designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site – the first such site in the Canary Islands. It is home to a natural treasure dating from the Tertiary period: the laurel forest. This subtropical forest is made up of a wide variety of trees that retain their foliage all year round thanks to the high humidity and mild temperatures. This forest, considered a living relic, once covered the Mediterranean basin during the Tertiary period, but disappeared almost entirely as a result of successive ice ages.
     In Garajonay, one can find fayas, heather, laurels and ferns, which feature endemic species typical of an isolated and mild environment. The area is affected by the trade winds, which create what is known as a ‘sea of clouds’; as a result, the condensation of water vapour on the leaves of the trees (horizontal rain) significantly increases the amount of water in the soil. The park is easy to explore thanks to the numerous footpaths that criss-cross it.