page_title: Faial Island
section_title: Ecoregions/Protected areas
hierarchical_section_title: Faial Island / Geography / Ecoregions/Protected areas
caption_attribution_description: English: Cabeço dos Trinta, Interior da ilha do Faial, Açores, Portugal Português: Cabeço dos Trinta, Interior da ilha do Faial, Açores, Portugal
context_page_description: Faial Island, also known in English as Fayal, is a Portuguese island of the Central Group of the Azores. The Capelinhos Volcano, the westernmost point of the island, might as well be the westernmost point of Europe, if the Monchique Islet, near Flores Island, is considered part of North America, for it sits on the North American Plate. Its main village, or little city, is Horta.
  With its nearest neighbours, Pico and São Jorge, it forms an area commonly known as the Triângulo. The island has also been referred to as the Ilha Azul, derived from the writings of Portuguese poet Raul Brandão, due to the large quantity of hydrangeas that bloom during the summer months:
  "The man that had the idea to border the road with these plants should have a statue on the island. In no other place, do they prosper better: they need a covering of light, humidity and heat...they are in their place. Their blue, is the blue that adorns the Azores on lipid days...this is a blue that is even more blue, the bunches of flowers of a colour more intense and more fresh.
context_section_description: In 2008, the Regional Government of the Azores established a comprehensive administrative framework to administer and promote the various environmental ecosystems of the island. These areas were reorganized under Regional Legislative Decree 46/2008/A, into the Faial Nature Park, that includes 13 protected areas:
  Nature Reserves
  [FAI01] Nature Reserve of the Caldeirinhas (Portuguese: Reserva Natural das Caldeirinhas)
  [FAI02] Nature Reserve of the Caldeira (Portuguese: Reserva Natural da Caldeira do Faial)
  [FAI03] Nature Reserve of the Morro do Castelo Branco (Portuguese: Reserva Natural do Morro do Castelo Branco)
  Protected Areas for the Management of Habitats and Coast Species
  [FAI04] Protected Area of Cabeço do Fogo (Portuguese: Área Protegida para a Gestão de Habitats ou Espécies do Cabeço do Fogo)
  [FAI05] Protected Area of Capelinhos, Northwest Coast and Varadouro (Portuguese: Área Protegida para a Gestão de Habitats ou Espécies dos Capelinhos, Costa Noroeste e Varadouro)
  [FAI06] Protected Area of Varadouro-Castelo Branco (Portuguese: Área Protegida para a Gestão de Habitats ou Espécies Varadouro-Castelo Branco)
  [FAI07] Protected Area of Lomba Grande (Portuguese: Área Protegida para a Gestão de Habitats ou Espécies Lomba Grande)
  Protected Landscapes
  [FAI08] Protected Landscape of Monte da Guia (Portuguese: Área de Paisagem Protegida do Monte da Guia)
  [FAI09] Protected Landscape of the Central Zone (Portuguese: Área de Paisagem Protegida da Zona Central)
  Protected Areas for the Management of Resources
  [FAI10] Protected Resource Area of the (Faial Sector) Faial-Pico Channel (Portuguese: Área Protegida de Gestão de Recursos do Canal Faial-Pico/Sector Faial)
  [FAI11] Protected Resource Area of Castelo Branco (Portuguese: Área Protegida de Gestão de Recursos do Castelo Branco)
  [FAI12] Protected Resource Area of Capelinhos (Portuguese: Área Protegida de Gestão de Recursos dos Capelinhos)
  [FAI13] Protected Resource Area of Cedros (Portuguese: Área Protegida de Gestão de Recursos dos Cedros)
  In addition, there are a few instituted forest reserves on the island of Faial, under the authority of the Direcção Regional de Recursos Florestais (Regional Directorate for Forest Services):
  Forest Reserve of Capelo (Portuguese: Reserva Florestal do Capelo)
  Forest Reserve of Cabouco Velho (Portuguese: Reserva Florestal do Cabouco Velho)
  Recreational Forest Reserve of Falca (Portuguese: Reserva Florestal de Recreio da Falca)
  Other areas of geological or environmental interest:
  Anelares Grotto (Portuguese: Gruta dos Anelares), located along the southern road of the Ribeira da Lombega, in Castelo Branco, this is a geological formation produced from a lava tube near the mountainous coast: it extends 35.5 meters from Ribeira da Lombega, is 2.5 meters wide and is 3.7 meters at its highest point.
  In 2013, the submarine Lula1000, while diving in the Faial-Pico canal discovered a coral reef situated 280–300 metres (920–980 ft) in depth and covering an area of 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft). In a communiqué to the Rebikoff–Niggeler Foundation, the group suggested that the reef formation was an important first discovery for the submarine team, which was located in the waters of the Azores since 1994, in order to document sea depth. Until this time, there were no documented records of coral reefs at such a depth in the waters of the Azores, nor at such a distance from Faial.
caption: The Cabeço dos Trinto in the Central Zone of the island of Pico
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