Fajãs de São Jorge Biosphere Reserve

The Fajãs de São Jorge Biosphere Reserve, classified by UNESCO in 2016, has 98,113.97 hectares, covering the whole island and an adjacent marine area up to three miles from the coast. It has a unique landscape and singular geological, environmental, and cultural values at a regional, national, and international level.

The island and its more than seven dozen fajãs – small flatlands next to the sea that originated from landslides or lava flows – are a natural and cultural heritage unique in the regional context and with enormous potential for abroad projection and generation of richness.

The uniqueness of the landscape is marked by the contrast between the steep and imposing coastal cliffs and the fajãs. 
These contrasting landscape values are home to a great diversity of terrestrial, coastal, and marine flora and fauna, including several endemic species belonging to various groups of organisms, such as mammals, birds, molluscs, arthropods, vascular plants, and bryophytes. The most emblematic species include the Grooved Carpet Shell (Ruditapes decussatus), the Yellowmouth Barracuda (Sphyraena viridensis), the Azorean Goldenrod (Solidago azorica), and the Cory´s Shearwater (Calonectris borealis), among others.