Ever since the 18th century, the Canary Islands and their fantastically diverse landscapes have attracted the attention of geographers and scholars from all over the world. Today, the islands continue to attract hundreds of thousands of nature lovers each year.

It's impossible to talk about a typical "Canary Island landscape". All the islands are vastly different from each other and within each individual island there is a wide variety of landscape; from the beautiful volcanic desolation of Timanfaya in Lanzarote to the snows of Teide in Tenerife, the green jungle of La Gomera's Garajonay, or the traditional charm of the Caldera de Taburiente in La Palma.

The Canaries are also home to some unique species of flora and fauna; the likes of which you won't find anywhere else on the planet.

The Canaries are widely recognised, the world over, as having an incredible wealth of ecologically valuable areas; and all these treasures have been carefully preserved.

You'll find them in both the populated areas like Gran Canaria and Tenerife as well as the more remote islands of El Hierro and La Palma.

The natural beauty of these islands is protected by the "The Canary Islands Natural Spaces Act" which came into effect in 1994. Large percentages of the island's territory are protected by the act. It has strict guidelines on which natural assets and features are to be conserved.