Welcome to the Canary Islands!

If you're here, it's because you want to learn more about how to travel responsibly. That means, like us, you care about protecting the islands. And we're glad you do: such a special environment deserves to be treated with special care.

We'll tell you how!

The Canary Islands are home to 146 protected natural areas, including four National Parks and three Marine Reserves; in addition to seven Biosphere Reserves, five World Heritage Sites, three Starlight Reserves... In short, the Canary Islands are a very special place, and that's why it's vital that, during your stay in the archipelago, you contribute to the preservation of its natural spaces and cultural values by being a responsible tourist.

The islands boast great biodiversity and an ecosystem where everything is connected. Every animal, plant, and rock is where it is to play a specific role. Therefore, we must minimize our intervention.

• Use authorized trails: when mountain biking or hiking, we must find out which trails are permitted for these activities and stick to them.

• Both on and off the trail, it is essential to leave everything as we found it. In other words, we must take our rubbish — including organic waste — and nothing else: plants, rocks, and animals must remain where they were. Lifting a stone, for example, can affect thousands of living beings, no matter how small.

• If you want to admire the plants, we invite you to get close to them, but we also ask that you do not pull them up. If you want to smell them, it is enough to rub their leaves with your fingers and bring them to your nose.

• Minimize noise as much as possible when moving through nature: whether we see them or not, there are many birds we don't want to disturb. For this reason, drone use is limited: check the necessary permits if you're interested!

• Do not feed wild animals, as this also affects their role in the ecosystem. In the case of lizards, for example, they need to feed on the fruits of native plants to then be able to disperse seeds.

Some invasive alien species are endangering our biodiversity in protected natural areas.

Minimize your footprint

Along the same lines, the more we reduce our environmental impact, the better. Here are some tips:

• Try to limit car use to save fuel and CO2 emissions. Therefore, we invite you to make the most of each journey and avoid repeating it unnecessarily.

• Instead, prioritize public transport. Specifically, we're talking about the 'guagua,' as we like to call it on the island. Mix with the locals while reducing your trip's carbon footprint.

• Save as much water as possible. Not only because it's a scarce resource, but also because, except for La Palma, the islands' water mostly comes from desalination plants, which have a very high energy cost.

Just like every animal, plant, and rock, all of us who visit the islands have an essential role to play: to care for them, protect them, and keep them alive. This is your opportunity, will you help us?