The mountains of the Forest Crown of Tenerife Those affected by the fire begin to recover their lives. Yesterday you could see specimens of some of the most emblematic species of this protected area, birds such as blue finches, canary tits and woodpeckers, fly over fire-damaged areas in the area around the Chipeque viewpoint, at one of the entrances to the National Park Teide, where the flames also entered. The blue finch, a symbol of Tenerife’s fauna, lives exclusively in these Tenerife pine forests. In general they live at an altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 meters, although they can sometimes be seen at lower levels.
The return of the songs of these endemic birds is great news after a few days of desolation due to the serious damage that the flames have caused to the largest protected area in Canary Islands. They are the pine forests of the Tenerife Forest Crown, a natural protection belt of the Teide National Park that occupies 46,613 hectares. This forest area in which pine forest predominates and Mountain vegetation covers 17 of the 31 municipalities of Tenerife. A total of 13 suffered the fire attack: La Orotava, Arafo, Los Realejos, Güímar, Candelaria, Santa Úrsula, La Victoria, La Matanza, Tacoronte, El Rosario, El Sauzal, San Juan de la Rambla and Fasnia.
The fire, which has not been officially declared extinguished, has affected more than 60 protected species. Among them, the one that worries the most is the Añavingo bighead, scientifically called Cheirolophus metlesicsii. It is a endangered specie, a shrub that can reach 2.5 meters in height, endemic to Tenerife and that attracts attention for its violet flower.