The Macaronesian Biogeographic Region is a

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

region, as defined by the

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides ...

, that covers the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

, the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, and

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

. The name comes from the group of four archipelagos collectively known as

Macaronesia Macaronesia (; ) is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlantic, North Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of list of islands in the Atlantic Oc ...

that also include

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

, which is not included in the European region.

Extent

The Macaronesian Biogeographic Region includes the Portuguese archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, and the Spanish Canary Islands. The

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

list of sites of Community importance for the region was the first such list to be adopted, in December 2001. It contained 208 sites covering over of land and sea. The list is updated every year. As of 14 December 2018 it contained 224 entries ranging from ES0000041 Ojeda, Inagua y Pajonales, at to PTTER0018 Costa das Quatro Ribeiras — Ilha da Terceira, at .

Environment

The archipelagos all have a volcanic origin, complex landscape and gentle climate, and have rich biodiversity.

Notes

Sources

* * {{Authority control Environment of the Canary Islands Environment of the Azores Environment of Madeira Biogeography