Conservation Status of the Canarian Flora and Vegetation

Abstract

After the conquest, the increasing disturbance of the island ecosystems, and their fragility, forced the authorities to implement conservation measures to protect them. Thus, since the sixteenth century, provisions were enacted and sometimes implemented to control the destruction of forests and water sources. In later centuries, reforestation was regulated in the most sensitive areas, to avoid damage that could have a negative impact on the island’s economy and development. However, it would not be until the mid-twentieth century when conservation was taken seriously from an ecological point of view.