Keywords

1 Introduction

Of the various options for humans to approach nature, birdwatching is one of the most popular. Birdwatching started in the late nineteenth century as an alternative to scientific hunting and developed thanks to public awareness campaigns and the emergence of ornithological organizations (Szczepańska et al. 2014). United Kingdom and United States were pioneers in birdwatching and in the creation of societies, such as the Royal Society for the Protection Birds in 1889 and the National Audubon Society in 1905, to the point that birdwatching became a main leisure activity for large segments of their populations (López Roig 2008). Private entrepreneurs saw an opportunity in its commercialization laying the foundations of what is now called “ornithological tourism”, “avitourism”, birdwatching or birding (Jones and Buckley 2001), today considered as a niche within nature tourism (Şekercioğlu 2002; Biggs et al. 2011). Ornithological tourism has been defined by Rivera (2007) as an activity that involves travelling from a place of origin to a specific destination with the aim of observing the local avifauna in their natural environment, providing economic benefits for destinations.

In the last twenty years, ornithological tourism has experienced a boost in Spain from private and public initiatives, especially projects linked to European funds for rural development (Gosálvez Rey 2009). These initiatives aim to generate a specialized economic sector that includes guide services, accommodation, restaurants, car rental or construction of infrastructures such as observatories and visitors’ centres.

Currently, our country is one of the main birdwatching destinations for ornithological tourists, representing 10% of ornithological tourism packages that British operators have in their sales catalogues worldwide (SEO/Birdlife 2016), which demonstrates the potential that Spain has for ornithological tourism. The most consolidated destinations for this activity in Spain are Andalusia, especially Doñana, Campo de Gibraltar, Extremadura and the Pyrenees.

In this context, the Canary Islands could become an exceptional centre for ornithological tourism given their mild climate, splendid landscapes and good transport links. The ornithological interest exists as they are home to some 90 breeding species and more than 380 that visit the islands throughout the year (AVIBASE), with six exclusive endemic species worldwide: Bolle’s Pigeon, Laurel Pigeon, Fuerteventura Stonechat, Tenerife Blue Chaffinch, Canary Islands Chiffchaff and African Blue Tit. These give the Canary Islands the richest avifauna of all the Macaronesian archipelagos (SEO/Birdlife 2016). This has led BirdLife International to consider the Canary Islands as an EBA (Endemic Bird Area), thus making it the only EBA in Western Europe. Despite this ornithological strength, this tourism product has very little weight in the tourism market of the archipelago, where sun and beach tourism are still the leaders (SEO/Birdlife 2016). In fact, there are only two privates companies dedicated to birdwatching, Birding Canarias and Aves Ecotours, which are struggling to make progress.

The island of El Hierro is the furthest away from the African continent and the smallest of the Canary archipelago, despite its small size, it contains the whole range of habitats present in the Canary Islands, except for the scrubland of summits. There are areas of ‘Monteverde’ (forested hills), Canary Island pine and juniper woodlands where it is relatively easy to observe endemic bird species and subspecies of the archipelago. Birds of open farmland, birds of prey, corvids and important numbers of gulls and migrant birds can be observed in La Dehesa and on the Llanos de Nisdafe. Finally, seabirds can be observed from the Orchilla lighthouse, La Restinga, the Roques de Salmor or in the Bahía de Naos-Hoya de Tacorón. Despite this, it is the least visited island for birdwatching in the Canary archipelago, even though the whole island has been designated by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve and Geopark.

This work aims to lay the foundations for the development of ornithological tourism on the island of El Hierro: an area of great interest for birdwatching where, to date, 178 species of birds have been indexed (AVIBASE), of which almost fifty breed regularly on the island. To do this, a geographical analysis of the diversity of species is conducted indicating the main taxa of tourist interest; the places and routes that provide the best spots for birdwatching and the mechanisms available to promote this tourist activity without affecting the conservation of the birds and their habitats.

2 Methods

We followed the methodology proposed by Gosálvez Rey (2009), Puhakka et al. (2011) and the action programme contained in the Ornithological Tourism Strategy for Macaronesia in the Canary Islands promoted by SEO/Birdlife (2016).

The geographical analysis of the distribution of bird species on El Hierro has considered three aspects: total species richness, number of endemic taxa and number of endangered species. This makes it possible to determine the “target” species that would attract an ornithological tourist to visit El Hierro. For this purpose, the information contained in the atlases of breeding and wintering birds of Spain (Martí and Del Moral 2003; SEO/Birdlife 2012) and in the Canary Islands Natural Inventory Bank (BIOCAN) has been considered. For the location of places of interest for birdwatching on El Hierro, the SPAs-Natura 2000 network and the Important Birds Area (IBA) network (Viada 1998) were used as starting points. Information contained in the websites of birdwatching companies and blogs (Reservoir Birds, BirdForum, juanjoramoseco.com) was also consulted. The network of trails and paths of El Hierro (Hikes of El Hierro and Traditional Paths of El Hierro Nature Trail) serves as a basis for designing ornithological tourist packages based on the distribution of birds and those areas where it is more likely to observe them, thus identifying the areas with the greatest potential for birdwatching. The free software QGIS (version 3.16.1) has been used to consult all the spatial data and generate maps, data related to the objectives of this study are shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1
A flow diagram asks the question, what areas could have the conservation potential through tourism? Subsequently 7 other questions are posed on the following 4 components of data: s p a’s natura 2000; important birds area; species distribution; and trails, accommodations, tourist resources..

Source Gosálvez Rey (2009), Puhakka et al. (2011)

Data used in the study and their relationship to the research objectives.

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3 Is It Worth Travelling to El Hierro for Birdwatching? Geographical Analysis of Bird Diversity

Birds, like other fauna, are intimately conditioned by the factors of the ecological environment in which they live. Relief, climate and water, vegetation and human activity are the main factors that explain the distribution of the different species of birds on the island of El Hierro.

Carrascal and Palomino (2002) analysed inter-island variations in the number of nesting land bird species in the Canary and Savage archipelagos, concluding that variations in species richness increased with increasing island size and greater habitat diversity and decreased with increasing distance from the mainland. The island of El Hierro is therefore the island with the lowest value of nesting bird richness in the Canary archipelago.

However, one of the simplest measures used to estimate the biological diversity of a territory is the richness or number of species which, although it is not a good indicator of the complexity of diversity, is easy to obtain and is often used as a first approximation (Margalef 2005; Lomolino et al. 2016). The species richness of birds presents on the island of El Hierro as of 2021 is 178 taxa according to AVIBASE. Of these, 31 species belong to the phenological category of rare or accidental, 42 are breeding species and the rest are migrants or habitual winterers (Martí and Del Moral 2003; SEO/Birdlife 2012). Of these 178 species, 21 are included in the Canary Islands catalogue of protected species, with the Canary Island Raven as the only species in danger of extinction and the Osprey, Manx Shearwater, Bolle’s Pigeon and Laurel Pigeon as vulnerable. The rest are included in the category of species of interest for the Canary Island ecosystems or in the category of special protection.

The spatial distribution of birds on El Hierro responds to the variety of habitats present on the island, a variety that is dependent on two main factors: the altitudinal gradient, with geomorphological, climatic and biogeographical implications, and the action of human activity that has developed on this island. There are currently six main types of habitats for birds (Fig. 2): forest areas (Canary Island pine forests, Monteverde and juniper woodlands); open spaces and extensive agrosystems (coastal scrubland, grasslands and crops); cliffs, islets, rocks and volcanic Badlands; the coastal strip and its beaches; artificial wetlands (reservoirs and artificial ponds); and urban areas. A detailed description of them is beyond the scope of this paper, so we recommend consulting their characterization in Martín and Lorenzo (2001), in Fernández-Palacios et al. (2001) and in del Arco Aguilar and Rodríguez Delgado (2018).

Fig. 2
A 6 photos of different birds. a, African Blue Tit; b, Berthelot’s Pipit; c, Yellow legged Gull; d, Atlantic Canary; e, Common Kestrel; and f, Canary Islands Raven.

Author photographs Rafael Ubaldo Gosálvez Rey

Some species of interest for ornithological tourism on the island of El Hierro: a African Blue Tit, b Berthelot’s Pipit, c Yellow-legged Gull, d Atlantic Canary, e Common Kestrel, f Canary Islands Raven.

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In this analysis, what we are interested in highlighting is whether there are birds of interest on this island to justify the arrival of ornithological tourists. Considering the area of distribution at European level, the category of threat and the phenological status of the birds present on El Hierro, a total of 21 species and subspecies of birds have been selected (Table 1; Fig. 2) for which an ornithological visit to this island is essential.

Table 1 Bird species of interest for ornithological tourism on the island of El Hierro distributed by habitat
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4 Areas and Trails for Bird Watching in El Hierro

For a territory to become a tourist destination for birdwatchers, not only must there be species of interest, there must also be places where it is relatively easy to observe birds, and there must be a level of infrastructure to cater for this tourist activity. At present, the island of El Hierro has these three elements: birds of interest, the possibility of visiting places where it is easy to watch birds (Fig. 3) and an infrastructure of roads, trails and lookouts.

Fig. 3
A 6 photos of main habitats. a, Canary Island pine forest in El Julan; b, Monteverde on the escarpment of El Golfo; c, Juniper woodlands in La Dehesa; d, Agrosystems in the Llanos de San Andrés; e, Cliffs and Roques de Salmor; f, Urban habitat, Valverde.

Author photographs Rafael Ubaldo Gosálvez Rey

Main habitats for fauna on the island of El Hierro: a Canary Island pine forest in El Julan, b Monteverde on the escarpment of El Golfo, c Juniper woodlands in La Dehesa, d Agrosystems in the Llanos de San Andrés, e Cliffs and Roques de Salmor, f Urban habitat, Valverde.

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The best areas for bird watching are those where there is a good chance of seeing the most emblematic species, while at the same time not disturbing them excessively and, if possible, in a safe and orderly way. In the case of the island of El Hierro, there are two networks of areas of interest for birdwatching: the Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs-Natura 2000) of the European Union and the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) developed by Birdlife International. In addition to these areas, there are other European (SAC-Natura 2000) and regional protection organisations as well as ones of international recognition by UNESCO (Biosphere Reserve and Geopark). Overall, 100% of the surface area of the island of El Hierro is covered by them (Table 2).

Table 2 Figures of protection of El Hierro
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If we focus on SPAs, we should point out that they were created in 1979 following the approval of the Birds Directive, the first regulation issued by the European Union for nature conservation. The Birds Directive identifies 200 endangered taxa for which it is necessary to designate special protection areas. Since 1992, SPAs have been integrated into Natura 2000, together with the Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), following the approval of the Habitats Directive. Natura 2000 constitutes of a network of protected areas to guarantee the conservation of biodiversity within the framework of the European Union. Three areas on El Hierro have been declared SPAs: Garoé, El Hierro and Gorreta and Salmor.

Garoé (ES10000102)

This area is in the north-eastern sector of El Hierro. It consists of the Macizo de Ventejís on whose windward slopes are the remains of the laurel forest that populated the whole area in the past. There is a peculiar agricultural landscape in the Llanos de San Andrés or Nisdafe, in which pastures and crops predominate. This area has great cultural value due to the magical character that the mountains had for the bimbaches (indigenous inhabitants), highlighting the famous Garoé, sacred tree for the bimbaches and symbol in the coat of arms of the island of El Hierro. The birds that justify the declaration of this area as a SPA are the Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Canary Common Chaffinch, Common Kestrel and Long-eared Owl.

El Hierro (ES0000103)

This SPA has an altitudinal range that goes from the coastline to 1501 m above sea level, which favours the appearance of different microclimates responsible, in turn, for the main habitats that appear on the island. This wide range of habitats facilitates a great diversity of birds, identifying some 35 species, including seabirds, raptors and endemic passerines. Among the seabirds, Bulwer’s Petrel, Cory’s Shearwater, Barolo Shearwater, European Storm Petrel, Band-rumped Storm Petrel and Common Tern stand out. Raptors are represented by Osprey, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Kestrel, Common Buzzard and Long-eared Owl. The passerines include the Canary Common Chaffinch (subsp. ombriosa), African Blue Tit (subsp. ombriosus), Atlantic Canary, Berthelot’s Pipit, Canary Island Raven, Bolle’s Pigeon and Laurel Pigeon.

Gorreta and Salmor (ES10000104)

Located in the north–north eastern part of the island of El Hierro, it is a large cliff with drops of up to 1000 m, in the easternmost part are the Roques de Salmor. The main importance of this area are the colonies of seabirds, where several species nest and reproduce such as Bulwer’s Petrel, Cory’s Shearwater, Barolo Shearwater, European Storm Petrel (with one of the largest national populations), Band-rumped Storm Petrel and Osprey. Other bird species of interest include Common Kestrel, Common Buzzard, Canary Island Raven, Western Barn Owl and Canary Island Chiffchaff.

The Important Bird Areas programme is an initiative of the European Commission, which arose to help compare national contributions to the lists of SPAs in the Birds Directive. Its design and methodology were entrusted to Birdlife International, and it was applied in Spain by SEO (Viada 1998). On the island of El Hierro, seven IBAs have been identified based on these criteria (Fig. 3): Macizo de Ventejís, Llanos de Nisdafe, Roques de Salmor, Monteverde de Frontera, western coast of El Hierro, La Dehesa and Bahía de Naos-Hoya de Tacorón.

IBAs to Conserve Forest Birds and Birds of Prey: Macizo de Ventejís and Monteverde de Frontera

The cataloguing of the Macizo de Ventejís as an IBA is due to the presence of an important population of Canary Island Common Chaffinch (subsp. ombriosa) and the presence of raptors and various subspecies of endemic passerines, including one of the main populations of Canary Island ravens (90–100 pairs), a species in danger of extinction.

Monteverde de Frontera occupies a wide strip of El Golfo escarpment, hosting the best representation of the Canary Island laurel forest and its stages of degradation on the island of El Hierro. The presence of Bolle's Pigeon (the only population on the island), Canary Island Common Chaffinch (subsp. ombriosa) and the Atlantic Canary earned this area its designation as an IBA, in addition to the presence of forest raptors, various subspecies of endemic passerines and a pair of Osprey.

IBAs for Open Space Bird Conservation: Llanos de Nisdafe and La Dehesa

Llanos de Nisdafe is an area characterised by an agro-livestock matrix, in which there are some patches of scrub and heathland. It is a very important area on the island for steppe birds, mainly the Eurasian Stone-curlew and Berthelot’s Pipit, and it is a feeding area for various birds of prey and a prime enclave for migrating birds and wintering birds. Its declaration as an IBA is based on all this and, above all, on the presence of Atlantic Canary populations.

La Dehesa is an IBA located to the west of the island of El Hierro dedicated to pastures and agricultural crops, with a Juniper Juniperus turbinata woodland and some plantations of foreign pines. This area is of great interest for steppe birds (Eurasian Stone-curlew and Berthelot’s Pipit), for migrant birds and for the presence of substantial populations of Common Kestrel.

IBAs to Conserve Seabirds: Roques de Salmor, Bahía de Naos-Hoya de Tacorón and Western Coast of El Hierro

These three IBAs share the same type of ecosystems: coastal cliffs and rocky islets to the north (Roques de Salmor), the south (Bahía de Naos-Hoya de Tacorón) and, above all, on the western coast of the island, extending along the coastal strip and into the sea. These are areas of great interest for the reproduction of Ospreys and seabirds, especially the European Storm Petrel and Band-rumped Storm Petrel, Bulwer’s Petrel, Cory’s Shearwater, Roseate Tern, Common Tern and Yellow-legged Gull.

The Network of Trails, Paths and Lookouts of El Hierro Constitute the Basic Infrastructure for Ornithological Tourism

The island of El Hierro has two networks of well-consolidated and signposted paths and trails, one was promoted by the Cabildo (Island Government) of El Hierro in accordance with the international standards of the ERA (European Ramblers Associations) and approved by the FEDME (Spanish Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing), Hiking of El Hierro, and another dependent on the government of Spain attached to the Natural Trails programme (Traditional paths of El Hierro Natural Trail). Both networks use as their main axis the so-called Camino de la Virgen, 37.3 km long, which links Tamaduste with the Orchilla jetty and has the category of Great Route (GR) (Fig. 4). The Cabildo’s network of trails is complemented by eleven Short Route (PR) trails and three local trails (SL), all of which are signposted and have panels with information of interest about the environment and the route itself. This network totals 256 km and covers all the areas of interest for birdwatching on El Hierro. The Nature Trail along the traditional trails of El Hierro is made up of two long-distance trails (Fig. 4): the GR-131 or Camino de la Virgen, which crosses the island through its centre, and a 112 km circular trail that runs around the perimeter of the island, making it possible to visit the different areas and places identified as being of interest for birdwatching.

This network of paths and trails is complemented by a set of nine lookouts (Fig. 4) which, although they were created for scenic and geological purposes, serve as genuine birdwatching points, especially seabirds and birds of prey, as they are located from the coastal cliffs to the peaks of the island. Our proposal is to use these networks of paths and lookouts as a support for birdwatching and the development of ornithological tourism.

Fig.4
A map depicts an island where 3 areas are marked: valverde, frontera, el pinar. The map marks important bird areas, s p a: birds directive, g r 131 trail, circular trail, and look out points. 6 types of birds are listed on the map.

Birdwatching in the El Hierro geopark

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5 Birdwatching as a Basis for Bird Conservation: The MacaroAves Project and the Strategy for the Canary Islands

Birdwatching as a tourist activity must contribute to the development of rural areas and the conservation of birds and their habitats, otherwise it is not worth implementing. To achieve this, planning must guide and develop this new economic activity, otherwise it could become a new source of problems in the form of disturbance to endangered species and their habitats. In this sense, since 2016, the Canary Islands have had an Ornithological Tourism Strategy developed within the framework of the MacaroAves project, financed with European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Macaronesia Transnational Cooperation Programme for the period 2007–2013. With a budget of 141,204€, this project was carried out by four partners: SEO/Birdlife in the Canary Islands, SPEA in Madeira, ART in the Azores and Biosfera in Cape Verde. The MacaroAves project aims to make tourism compatible with bird conservation through the implementation of a series of actions: the development of a strategy for ornithological tourism throughout Macaronesia; the identification of the places of greatest interest for ornithological tourism; measures to support the creation of infrastructures; the promotion of this tourism sector as a complementary resource for tourists visiting these archipelagos; the training of local guides and the development of environmental awareness activities.

In the case of the Canary Islands, the main materials produced during the project were the drafting of the Ornithological Tourism Strategy in the Canary Islands, the installation of information panels in demonstration areas in Tenerife and Fuerteventura, the preparation of a guide map of places for birdwatching in the Canary Islands and the organization of a training course in ornithological tourism.

The Ornithological Tourism Strategy of the Canary Islands has identified the potential impacts that poorly planned ornithological tourism could have on birds (SEO/Birdlife 2016). These impacts have been highlighted in multiple works (McFarlane and Boxall 1996; Şekercioğlu 2002; Steven et al. 2011, 2015) and are a concern when implementing birdwatching as a tourism activity.

The challenge for SEO/Birdlife (2016) is to develop ornithological tourism that respects and even enhances natural values based on four fundamental pillars: ensuring the compatibility of activities for the local population and visitors; promoting the conservation of nature (birds, habitats and landscapes); carrying out actions with scientific rigour; and applying a code of ethics and a set of good practices to avoid endangering the species observed. It is worth mentioning that little of this project reached El Hierro, only the creation of a map with fourteen places to observe birds.

In 2018, the Cabildo (Island Government) of El Hierro produced an Ecotourism Guide for the Biosphere Reserve and Geopark of the island (Ramos Melo and González del Campo 2018), containing a section dedicated to birdwatching. This guide provides tips for visiting throughout the year and details species and the places where they can be observed. These places are the forest roads of Mencáfete and Jinama, the Llanía spring and the Hoya del Pino recreational area to observe birds of prey and birds typical of the “Monteverde”; Llanos de Nisdafe and San Andrés for birds of steppe and agricultural environments, the reservoirs of Frontera to see migratory waterfowl and the port of La Restinga and the Orchilla lighthouse to observe marine and migratory birds.

6 Conclusion

On the island of El Hierro, little attention has been paid to birdwatching as a tourist activity even though the island is a Biosphere Reserve and Geopark and has numerous nationally and internationally recognised sites. Indeed, the island has bird fauna of great interest due to its endemicity, sites where it is relatively easy to observe the different species and a basic infrastructure of paths and lookouts that allow visitors to travel around the island to conduct this new tourist activity. However, only recently has the Cabildo (Island Government) of El Hierro incorporated bird watching as an activity to be developed in the Biosphere Reserve and Geopark (Ramos Melo and González del Campo 2018).

Ornithological tourism is a solid complement to sun and beach tourism as it favours the development of tourist infrastructures in the interior, is not affected by seasonality and is compatible with short holiday periods or short breaks, an important tool for de-seasonalising tourism. However, it obliges the island's tourism sector to present a differentiated and expert offer for a specific and specialist public. The Geopark and the Biosphere Reserve of El Hierro should make significant efforts in the coming years to support and encourage the development of this new tourist activity, relying on the Ornithological Tourism Strategy for the Canary Islands developed by SEO/Birdlife in the framework of the MacaroAves project. The challenge is, moreover, to do so without deteriorating or endangering these valuable resources, i.e., the birds and their habitats.