Desertas Islands Nature Reserve

The Desertas Islands Nature Reserve protects three long, narrow islands, Ilhéu Chão, Deserta Grande and Bugio, together with their islets and the surrounding sea down to a depth of 100 metres: 12,586 hectares in all. The islands lie south-east of Madeira, in line with the Ponta de São Lourenço headland, about 12 nautical miles from it and 22 from Funchal. Deserta Grande, the largest and highest, is almost 12 kilometres long, less than 2 kilometres wide and rises to 479 metres.

The islands have been legally protected since 1990 and a nature reserve since 1995. The reason was urgent: to save a small colony of Mediterranean monk seals, known in Madeira as the lobo-marinho, whose conservation project began in 1988. Since then nature wardens have kept a permanent watch on the islands. All the land and the sea to the south are strictly protected, while the waters to the north are a partial reserve. The Desertas are also a Council of Europe Biogenetic Reserve and belong to the Natura 2000 network.

Seabirds nest here in large numbers, among them Cory's shearwater, the Madeiran storm petrel and Bulwer's petrel, which has on Deserta Grande its largest colony in the Atlantic. The Desertas petrel breeds only on Bugio. On land, the Desertas wolf spider lives in a single valley at the northern end of Deserta Grande, and most of the fifty or so land snails recorded on the islands are endemic. Turtles, dolphins and whales can be seen in the surrounding waters.

The only way to visit is by sea, on a private boat or with one of the tour boats, and always with prior authorisation from IFCN, the regional forest and nature conservation institute that manages the reserve. The main activity for visitors is a guided walk along an interpretive trail, followed by time to watch and listen to the wildlife. Thousands of people make the trip every year, and school and other educational groups can join the reserve's environmental education programme.