Forests are extremely important to a region’s ecosystem and economy. They are directly related to the rainfall regime, they help maintain the water resources, store carbon in the soil, are home to countless species, and we can also extract raw material such as wood from the forests.

The forest is a structuring element in the Azorean landscape, the Laurissilva Forest being the only endemic in the archipelago. Laurissilva is the name given to a type of subtropical rainforest, composed mainly of trees of the laureaceae family and endemic to Macaronesia.

This type of forest is only possible in the Azores due to its climate, which is humid or very humid temperate, allowing Azorean forests to have an aspect and complexity very similar to tropical forests, and the strong oceanic component dictated by the distance from the territory continental.

There are several types of Laurissilva forest, which can be differentiated by altitude, such as:

_ Low altitude Laurissilva

_ Wet Laurisilva (average altitude <500m)

_ Cloud forest.