Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands with the greatest biological diversity in the archipelago. There are over 800 endemic species of fauna and flora living here and several new species are discovered each year). One of the island’s main peculiarities is that the vegetation changes radically in areas that are barely a few hundred metres apart. The difference in altitude and the microclimates the relief creates gives rise to six different ecosystems from coast to peak (Canary Island spurges and tabaibas; thermophilic forests; laurel forests; Macronesian heathland; pine forests and high mountain).
Tenerife’s fauna is similar to the wildlife populating northern Africa and southern Europe. But the main distinctive element is the high percentage of endemic species largely thanks to years of genetic isolation. In Tenerife, most of these endemic species are found in Anaga, Teno and Las Cañadas del Teide. One of the most significant groups of animals on the Island are invertebrates, which account for 3,000 species, 40% of which are endemic. And there are over 200 species of birds that fly through Tenerife’s skies throughout the year.
The Canary Islands are a volcanic archipelago formed by a hot mantle bursting through the African continental plate, creating an environment with more geological diversity than Iceland or Hawai’i. The landscape of Tenerife is other-worldly with lava flows that oozed like tar towards the sea; chasm-esque lava tubes; monumental calderas, landslides and unique deposits formed by highly explosive eruptions.
GeoTenerife is a UK science travel and research company with a fully-owned local subsidiary (Viajes y Prácticas Científicas GeoTenerife SL). We are members of ABTA (the UK travel association which fully protects your booking). Based in our historic HQ, our field trip centre accommodation for groups comes with ensuite bedrooms, WIFI, a dedicated presentation room, and panoramic views of the coast over an infinity pool.
GeoTenerife organises tailor-made field trips for universities, colleges and schools. We work closely with a wide network of local, national and international experts and institutions and we are passionate about foreign students coming to the Canary Islands and hearing from local voices. Every trip we design is unique, crafted by our local field trip coordinator who is based in Tenerife and supports your trip throughout your stay. Our collaborating experts can accompany groups into the field to teach or lecture at our HQ. Field trips are specifically designed to fit the requirements of each group and we can organise all your transfer, transport and accommodation requirements.
We also run a field school with training programmes like GeoIntern, VolcanoCamp and MarineSciCamp. Our commitment to opening access as widely as possible means that we offer a range of scholarships and work hard to adapt to students’ individual needs where necessary. We believe science is at its best when it is inclusive and accessible.
Research is at the heart of what we do. As a Geoscience education and sustainable tourism company based in the Canary Islands, with a special interest in responsible science communication, we are in a unique position to document and analyse three key issues close to our heart: the 2021 volcanic eruption and recovery of La Palma; building volcanic readiness across the Canary Islands and sustainable tourism. We publish all our research openly via our VolcanoStories project with unique resources and datasets.
Our commitment to researching the impacts of the 2021 eruption of the Volcán de Tajogaite led to GeoTenerife financing and co-producing two 4K documentaries: Lava Bombs: Truths behind the Volcano and Lava Bombs: The Reconstruction. The Lava Bombs project tells the unheard human stories of the people affected by the eruption.
Finally, over the last decade or so we have seen an increase in the number of informal reports of bullying of young scientists in the workplace. We have joined up with the Academic Parity movement to research and quantify the international problem as the first step to helping to eradicate it through the StopSciBullying Campaign.
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