Nature Park of Terceira

The Terceira Nature Park was established by legislative decree No.11/2011/A, on 20 April 2011, which reformulated the juridical classification, management and administration of the Azorean areas of protection. Local environmentalists participated in the first bat census between 2–7 July 2012, in an area that covered 20 different localities. It was part of the Mais Endémicas: plantar o futuro (More Endemics: Planting the Future), which involved the inventory and monitorization of bat species, in collaboration with the ICNB. During that day, in addition to visiting the historic centre of Angra (which included the Church of the Misericórdia, Monte Brasil), the group evaluating the Terceira Park visited, the Algar do Carvão, the Furnas do Enxofre, Guilherme Moniz volcano and Lajes Graben (five of the eight principal geosites on the island). In addition to obtaining information about the park, the site would host photographic exhibitions and display various species of endemic flora and fauna. In addition, the regional secretary inaugurated the new pedestrian trail in Biscoitos, a trail that followed the vineyards of the Paisagem Protegida da Vinha dos Biscoitos (Protected Landscape of the Biscoitos Vineyards), using many of the old channels and accesses to wine properties. The trail allows hikers to follow the ancestral routes used by wine-growers that helped to develop the economic activity of the island. ==Geography==

Approximately 22% of Terceira's land area, or , was integrated into the nature park, in order to create conditions for a coherent and integrated management plan. The park is guided by the principals of conservation that includes delimited spaces for nature, humans landscape use and natural resources exploitation, based on scientific criteria/guidelines established for the classification of environments at the international, national, regional and local levels. Classified areas '' The Terceira Nature Park is actually a dispersed reserve that encompasses several individual areas of protection. Nature reserves Those areas classified as Nature Reserves (): • [TER01] Nature Reserve of the Santa Bárbara and Mistérios Negros Massif (), defined by the presence of a large and well conserved patch of natural vegetation, with a great diversity of species, habitats and protected ecosystems, located within the slopes of the double caldera and the trachytic domes, one of which was responsible for the eruption of April 1761. • [TER02] Nature Reserve of Biscoito da Ferraria and Pico Alto () • [TER05] Nature Reserve of the Furnas do Enxofre () Protected areas Areas classified for Protection and Management of Habitats or Species (): • [TER06] Protected Landscape of Contendas Point () • [TER07] Protected Landscape of the Cabras Islet () • [TER09] Protected Landscape of the Biscoito das Fontinhas () Resource areas Areas classified for the Management of Resources (): • [TER14] Protected Resource Management Area of Guilherme Moniz Caldera () • [TER15] Protected Marine Resource Management Area of Quatro Ribeiras () • [TER16] Protected Marine Resource Management Area of the Contendas Coast () • [TER17] Protected Marine Resource Management Area of the Cabras Islet () • [TER18] Protected Marine Resource Management Area of Cinco Ribeiras () • [TER19] Protected Marine Resource Management Area of the Vila Nova Downtown () • [TER20] Protected Marine Resource Management Area of Monte Brasil (), constituted for the classification of the marine environment for the management of the resources on Monte Brasil, due to the presence of natural habitats, namely submarine grottos and semi-submersed regions, associated with an elevated marine biodiversity in fauna. ==See also==