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.

El Hierro es la isla más occidental y pequeña del archipiélago canario localizado en el Atlántico oriental subtropical. Es una isla de origen volcánico y geológicamente muy joven que fue declarada Geoparque Mundial UNESCO en 2014 por poseer un patrimo nio sobresaliente asociado con el volcanismo y presentar espléndidos paisajes donde la geomorfología es la protagonista. La isla recibe varios miles de turistas al año atraídos principalmente por el buceo y el senderismo. El objetivo de este trabajo es identificar, inventariar, seleccionar y valorar veinte geomorfositios volcánicos destacados, conserva dos y accesibles que tengan interés geoturístico, para fomentar el turismo y que diversifi quen la oferta de ocio en la isla. Los sitios seleccionados incluyen conos volcánicos, cam pos de lava, plataformas lávicas, fallas, valles de deslizamiento, barrancos, acantilados o playas. Los valores geomorfológicos de estos lugares pueden contribuir a potenciar el geoturismo como una actividad turística y de ocio importante en El Hierro.

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.

La foredune es formada por la deposición de arena eólica en torno a la vegetación localizada en el backshore Se trata de una estructura producida por procesos biogeomorfológicos que dependen de múltiples factores ambientales (régimen eólico, precipitación, temperatura, suminitro de sedimento, vegetación, entre otros). El objetivo de esta investigación es caracterizar la foredune de los sistemas playa-duna de Cabo Verde, especialmente en las islas de Sal y Boa Vista, para entender, de forma preliminar, su naturaleza y las amenazas que pueden estar afectando el funcionamiento natural de esta. Para ello se realizó una campaña de campo en junio de 2023 donde se tomaron datos de variables morfológicas y de vegetación en cuatro parcelas. Los resultados muestran que la foredune, está formada por biogeoformas tipo “nebkhas”, y la vegetación estructurante es principalmente herbácea donde actúan especies xerófilas y halófilas como Sesuvium portulacastrum, Tetraena fontanesii, Tetraena waterlotii y Suaeda caboverdeana. Sin embargo se muestran y discuten algunos factores que pueden estar controlando la distribución natural de las nebkhas que conforman la foredune.