Hello to all nature lovers and future visitors to our magnificent island!
As a guide, I’m lucky enough to explore every nook and cranny of Madeira every day. And while our breathtaking landscapes and mountains have made our reputation, there’s an even more hidden treasure I’d like to share with you: our wild flora and fauna.
Our great secret is the Laurisilva. A prehistoric rainforest, straight out of the Ice Age, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Because our island has remained isolated in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean for millions of years, nature has created its own laboratory here. As you wander along our trails, you’ll encounter incredible creatures and plants that exist nowhere else on Earth. A spectacle unique in the world that deserves your full attention.
But beware: this paradise is now a refuge in grave danger. Every day I see our island changing, and I must be honest with you—the lack of awareness among some visitors is taking a heavy toll on our ecosystem. Trash left on the trails, trampling of fragile flora, and disturbance of the animals are accelerating the loss of our biodiversity.
During our upcoming outings together, you’ll quickly realize that our unique species are fighting for their survival every day. To help you become mindful travelers who are connected to nature, I’ve put together my personal list—from the rarest and most endangered species, hidden in our strictly protected reserves, to those you might be lucky enough to spot along a trail.
My Top 10 Unique and Endangered Animals in Madeira
1. The Desertas Wolf Spider (Hogna ingens) – Critically Endangered
Don’t cringe just yet! Even if you’re not a fan of creepy-crawlies, this spider is a true treasure of evolution. It’s an endemic species found nowhere else in the world, and with a leg span of 12 centimeters, it’s one of the largest spiders in Europe. Rest assured, you’ll never come across it in your hotel room or on the hiking trails of the main island. It lives exclusively on the island of Deserta Grande (one of the deserted islands visible in the distance from Funchal), and luckily for us, it can’t swim—hahaha! It’s on the brink of extinction. Its main enemy isn’t humans directly, but an invasive weed that covers the ground and chokes the cracks in the rocks where it hides and hunts. There are fewer than 5,000 adults left.
2.Phoque Moine (Monachus monachus) – En danger d’extinction
It is quite simply the rarest and most endangered marine mammal in all of Europe. While its global population is on the brink of collapse, our archipelago is home to one of the very few glimmers of hope in the world for this species. To survive human activity, they have abandoned the coasts of the main island and found refuge on inaccessible pebble beaches and in the most secluded sea caves of the Desertas Islands. By the late 1980s, the species was doomed here; only 6 to 8 individuals remained, hidden throughout the archipelago. Fortunately, the creation of the Desertas Islands Strict Nature Reserve changed everything by prohibiting access to unauthorized boats and coastal fishing. Thanks to this newfound peace, the colony has regained its strength and is even beginning to make tentative appearances in some of Madeira’s calm bays—you’re lucky if you spot one.
3. The Madeira Petrel (Pterodroma madeira) – Endangered
Nicknamed the “Freira da Madeira,” this seabird is an extreme survivor. It was believed to be completely extinct before a few pairs were rediscovered in the 1960s. What makes it unique in the world? Although it is a seabird, it nests exclusively high up in the island’s central mountains, on the steep cliffs hidden just below Pico do Areeiro. It is Europe’s rarest bird: there are only about 80 breeding pairs left on Earth. To protect themselves, the petrels only come to the nest at night and dig burrows directly into the ground. This makes them extremely vulnerable to human-introduced predators (rats and feral cats) that prey on the chicks, as well as to wildfires that can devastate their colonies in a matter of hours. As a guide, I see thousands of hikers pass by on the trail between Pico do Areeiro and Pico Ruivo, and I must warn you: overtourism is taking a toll on their sanctuary. Straying from the marked trails to take a photo destroys the vegetation and causes landslides that crush their burrows. When you hike on our peaks, stay on the paved trails. It’s a simple gesture, but it’s what saves the species.
4. The Madeira Brimstone (Gonepteryx maderensis) – Vulnerable
This magnificent butterfly is a true flash of light amid the vegetation. The male boasts a vivid lemon-yellow color with fiery orange highlights. You won’t find it anywhere else on the planet: it lives exclusively in the densest and most humid areas of our laurel forest, the Laurisilva. Why is it classified as vulnerable? Because its entire life depends on a single endemic tree, the Canary Island Buckthorn. It is only on the leaves of this tree that the butterfly lays its eggs and its caterpillars feed. Climate change, increasingly frequent droughts, and the loss of wetlands directly threaten this delicate balance. If this tree declines, the butterfly will go extinct.
5. The Madeira Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus maderensis) – Vulnerable
This small, endemic bat is a great treasure: it is the very last terrestrial mammal native to our archipelago. The rats, mice, and rabbits you see today were all brought here by human ships. This bat, however, already reigned over the skies of Madeira long before the arrival of the first Portuguese sailors. Classified as vulnerable, it weighs barely a few grams and spends its days hidden in cliff crevices, hollow trees, or old stone buildings. At dusk, it becomes our best ally, hunting thousands of mosquitoes and small insects above the forests and waterways. Its populations are declining due to the use of pesticides that poison its food and modern building renovations that destroy its hiding places.
6. The Trocaz Pigeon (Columba trocaz) – Protected
This large, purplish-gray pigeon with silvery highlights is the true king of the laurel forest. Don’t confuse it with the pigeons found in our cities! The Trocaz Pigeon is a species found nowhere else in the world; it is shy and lives only in the Madeira archipelago. It is the island’s green lung: it feeds exclusively on the berries of endemic laurel trees, and by dispersing the seeds farther afield, it naturally replants the forest. Without it, the Laurisilva forest could not regenerate. Although it is out of danger today, it has come a long way. It narrowly escaped extinction due to deforestation and intensive hunting by farmers who considered it a pest to their crops. Fortunately, its total and strict protection for several decades has allowed its population to reclaim the humid forests.
7. The Madeira Firecrest (Regulus maderensis) – Protected
Locally, everyone calls it “Bis-bis” because of its short, high-pitched, and discreet call. This tiny olive-green bird, crowned with an ultra-bright yellow or orange crest, is a unique species in the world. It’s a real ball of energy: it spends its days frantically hopping from branch to branch in the laurels and giant heathers to flush out small insects. Fortunately for it, its population is stable today and it is very common. But its small size makes it extremely dependent on the quality of the forest. The Bis-bis needs dense vegetation to hide from predators and to build its suspended, small cup-shaped nest.
8. The Madeira Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs maderensis) – Protected
This chaffinch is a unique subspecies in Madeira, much more colorful than its mainland cousin, with a beautiful blue-gray back and a pinkish-orange breast. It is a strictly forest-dwelling bird, but it has grown accustomed to humans over the centuries. The problem here is not its disappearance, but its behavior, which is being completely ruined by mass tourism. This chaffinch has become so trusting that it will land right on your hands. But this is where I have to rant! Too often, I see tourists giving pieces of bread, cake, or cookies to the chaffinches just to take a nice Instagram photo, particularly on the Balcões hike. This is poison to them! Our processed food disrupts their digestive system, makes them sick, and most importantly, makes them lose the habit of hunting insects or searching for healthy seeds. For their own good, please admire their colors, take your photos, but never feed them. Let’s keep them wild!
9. The Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea schmitzi) – Protected
Called “Lavandera” by the locals, this beautiful subspecies is unique to our archipelago. You will recognize it immediately by its bright yellow belly, its long tail that it frantically wags up and down, and its slender silhouette. It is the inseparable bird of our aquatic landscapes: it spends its days running along waterfalls, rivers, and irrigation channels (our famous levadas) to catch insects mid-air. Fortunately, its population is doing very well and remains stable. As long as Madeira has pure water flowing through its mountains, the wagtail will find food. It has even adapted so well that it sometimes nests in the stone walls of our villages or near the island’s ports.
10. The Madeiran Wall Lizard (Teira dugesii) – Protected
You can’t miss this one: it’s the absolute star of the island! Called “Lagartixa,” this agile little reptile is the only native reptile of Madeira. It is absolutely everywhere, from the scorching pebble beaches to the highest peaks at 1,800 meters of altitude. Its population numbers in the millions and is doing wonderfully. It loves to sunbathe on hot stones and feeds on insects, flowers, and also fruits. The Madeira lizard is incredibly greedy and fears nothing. As soon as you settle down for a picnic, dozens of lizards will rush around your shoes to scavenge for crumbs. The problem with current tourism is that by giving them scraps of human food (chips, sandwiches, sweet leftovers), we change their natural behavior and create abnormal concentrations of lizards in the same spot. Enjoy the show of their acrobatics, but please, do not turn our trails into a fast-food joint for reptiles!
My Top 10 Unique and Protected Plants You Must Discover
1. The Madeiran Rowan (Sorbus maderensis) – Critically Endangered Madeiran name: Sorveira
Do not look for this small tree in the public gardens of Funchal, nor anywhere else in the whole world! The Madeiran Rowan is one of the rarest and most endangered trees on the planet. It grows in only one very specific place: clinging to the highest and most inaccessible rocky cliffs of the island’s central peaks, where the wind blows fiercely. This tree is an extreme survivor. Due to repeated fires and, historically, intensive grazing by wild goats that loved to nibble on its young shoots, its population has collapsed. Today, there are only a few dozen adult individuals left in the wild. To prevent its total disappearance, the island’s botanists are carrying out a titanic effort by cultivating young plants in greenhouses before reintroducing them, suspended by ropes, onto the rock faces.
2. The Madeiran White Orchid (Goodyera macrophylla) – Critically Endangered Madeiran name: Orquídea-branca-da-Madeira
This one is another total exclusive of our island! Unlike the colorful orchids in our living rooms, it displays a stem of small flowers of pure, immaculate white. It hides only in the darkest, wettest, and most untouched corners of the deep forest. Why is it on the brink of extinction? Because it is absolutely demanding. It requires constant humidity and perfect, undisturbed forest soil. The retreat of the primary forest, trampling, and unfortunately, poaching by unscrupulous collectors have reduced its population to an alarming level. Today, only a few small isolated colonies remain across the island. This orchid is what scientists call a “bio-indicator species.” Its presence or disappearance instantly reflects the health of the laurel forest (Laurisilva). It lives in microscopic symbiosis with soil fungi in order to germinate. If the soil is compacted or polluted, the fungus dies, and the orchid goes extinct. Protecting this flower means ensuring the absolute purity of the soils and air of our forest ecosystem.
3. The Madeira Cranesbill (Geranium maderense) – Critically Endangered Madeiran name: Gerânio-da-Madeira (or Perna-de-galo)
Forget the timid little geraniums on our grandmothers’ balconies! In the wild, the Madeira Geranium is a spectacular plant that can reach over a meter in height. It forms a perfect dome of giant leaves, crowned by hundreds of ultra-bright pink-purple flowers. It is a unique sight in the world found only in the shaded, damp areas of the Laurisilva. Although it is now cultivated in gardens worldwide for its beauty, its situation in the wild is dramatic. A victim of the destruction of its natural habitat and smothered by invasive exotic plants introduced by humans, it has almost completely disappeared from its native environment. Encountering a true wild geranium at the bend of a levada has become an absolute rarity.
4. The Madeira Jasmine (Jasminum azoricum) – Endangered Madeiran name: Jasmim-da-Madeira
If you like delicate fragrances, this one will make your head spin! The Madeira Jasmine is a woody climbing plant unique to our archipelago. Unlike classic jasmines, it produces beautiful little star-shaped white flowers that release an ultra-sweet scent at nightfall. In the wild, it loves to climb along rocky cliffs and sunny slopes of the south coast. Although widely cultivated as an ornamental plant worldwide, it is paradoxically classified as critically endangered in the wild in its native natural environment on the island of Madeira. Wild jasmine plays a key role in stabilizing coastal soils. Its robust roots infiltrate the smallest cracks in the basalt, acting as a natural net that holds the rock in place and limits landslides during winter storms. Furthermore, its nocturnal blooming is essential for the survival of moths and bats on the island (like the Pipistrelle), which depend on these insects for food. Saving this jasmine literally means preventing our cliffs from collapsing.
5. The Madeira Sea Kale (Crambe fruticosa) – Vulnerable Madeiran name: Couve-da-rocha (literally “rock cabbage”)
Immediately forget the image of the cabbage growing quietly in grandfather’s vegetable garden! The Madeira Cabbage is a vigorous shrub that can grow up to two meters tall. It has large, jagged green leaves and, in spring, covers itself in a huge cloud of very light, small white flowers. This plant loves salt, sun, and the void: it grows exclusively on maritime cliffs and steep low-altitude rocks (below 300 meters), where ocean spray hits the coast. To observe it in the wild, you have to scan the semi-arid slopes of Ponta de São Lourenço, the dizzying walls of Cabo Girão, or the cliffs of the southwest coast, between Ponta do Sol and Calheta. This plant is a crucial link in the coastal ecosystem. By growing on the most arid and friable vertical walls, it creates micro-zones of shade and retains moisture on the bare rock. This allows other small creeping plants and mosses to establish themselves in turn. This is what we call a pioneer species.
6. The Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans) – Protected Madeiran name: Orgulho-da-Madeira or better known as Massaroco
The Pride of Madeira is a spectacular shrub that produces huge spikes of intense, almost electric blue-purple flowers. It grows wild on rocky slopes and along mountain roads, between 800 and 1,400 meters above sea level. When it blooms en masse in the spring, it colors entire swathes of mountains. Thanks to its popularity and its massive reintroduction on embankments by nature parks, its population is now stable and out of danger. However, it remains under close surveillance because it is very sensitive to forest fires, which can ravage its wild colonies in a matter of hours. It’s the big restaurant of the island! Its thousands of tiny blue flowers produce an enormous amount of nectar. In early spring, it becomes the main food for Madeira’s bees and many local butterflies. Without it, the insects wouldn’t have enough energy to pollinate the mountain’s other plants.
7. The Lily-of-the-Valley Tree (Clethra arborea) – Protected Madeiran name: Folhado
Don’t be fooled by its name; it’s not a small undergrowth flower, but a real tree that can grow up to 8 or 10 meters tall! The Folhado is one of the most beautiful species in our forest. It is a shrub found in Macaronesia, where it is endemic to Madeira. It is an evergreen shrub capable of reaching up to 6 m in height. The flowers are small and white, bell-shaped similar to those of the lily of the valley. They are gathered in inflorescences found at the ends of branches, appearing in early to mid-summer. The plant is toxic to humans.
8. Musschia isambertoi – Critically Endangered
This is the story of a modern botanical miracle. Discovered only in 2007 on the neighboring deserted island of Deserta Grande, this plant is one of the rarest in the world. It grows only on a single, completely inaccessible volcanic cliff. It was named in honor of Mário Isamberto, a forest ranger and nature warden of the Madeira Nature Park. An evolution saved from the goats’ doom: This plant came close to disappearing before we even knew it existed. The wild goats once left on the islet ate everything, and the plant only survived by hanging over the void. It evolved by forming a unique alliance with the Desertas lizards: they are the ones who climb onto its green flowers to drink nectar and transport pollen!
9. The Til / Stinkwood (Ocotea foetens) – Protected Madeiran name: Til
It is the patriarch, the colossus of our forest. The Til is an immense tree that can live for several centuries and reach 40 meters in height. Its leaves are a very dark green, and its ancient trunks hollow out into mystical cavities. When its wood is cut, it releases a strong and peculiar smell, hence its scientific name (foetens). Old Tils (like those in the Fanal forest) have bark covered with very fragile mosses that take decades to grow. Never climb on their branches and do not carve anything into their trunks for a photo. Respect these giants as historical monuments.
10. The Canary Laurel (Laurus novocanariensis) – Protected Madeiran name: Loureiro
It is the most common and important tree in our rainforest. It can grow as a large bush or become a beautiful 15-meter-tall tree. Its glossy green leaves release a magnificent, fresh aromatic scent, especially after the rain (it is, in fact, a cousin of the bay laurel used in cooking). This tree is an incredible example of adaptation to the climate of the Macaronesian islands. Its leaves are perfect “fog catchers.” When clouds driven by the trade winds cross the mountains of Madeira, the Loureiro leaves catch the invisible moisture from the mist. Small drops form on its foliage, accumulate, and fall to the ground. This is the famous “horizontal rain”: this tree creates its own rain and fills the island’s groundwater tables! Because there are many of them, hikers often think this tree is not at risk. That is false. The Loureiro has tender bark, and its young shoots on the ground are very fragile. By walking off the trails to venture under the canopy, walkers crush the baby laurels and compact the soil, which prevents its roots from breathing. For the forest to continue producing our water, stay strictly on the marked paths.
Little Bonus
The Madeira Fern (Polystichum maderense) – Critically Endangered Madeiran name: Feto-de-Madeira
Madeira is a paradise for ferns, but this one is our most secret jewel. This fern is a living witness to a distant past. Its ancestors covered the Mediterranean basin millions of years ago. When the great glaciations destroyed everything on the continent, Madeira acted as a “protective greenhouse.” Isolated in our forest, it evolved to become a unique species, completely adapted to the constant humidity and coolness of our shadows. It is a living fossil that hasn’t changed since prehistoric times. It is one of the most threatened plants on the island. Its wild population is tiny and fragile. Its greatest enemy is climate change, which dries out its shaded valleys, and the passage of hikers. Its fronds are paper-thin and break at the slightest contact. If you spot its silhouette at the bend of a very humid levada, never reach out to touch it. Stay on the marked path; trampling the ground around it could destroy the vital carpet of moss that protects its roots.
The Madre-Louro (Laurobasidium lauri) Madeiran name: Madre-de-louro
This is not a plant, but a unique fungus with an absolute peculiarity: it grows exclusively on the Canary Laurel (Laurus novocanariensis), the king tree of our forest. You will never find it on any other tree on the island! It creates large, velvety brown growths that hang from the branches and look like funny natural sculptures. This fungus is an extreme specialist. Over millions of years, it has programmed itself to live solely with this specific laurel. It takes advantage of the tree’s sap and the fog of the Laurisilva to grow, without ever killing its host. It is a unique duo in the world. These suspended forms are very fragile and detach easily. If you see one along a levada, don’t pull on it and don’t touch it. Let this natural pair live in peace in the humidity of the forest.
Obviously, this selection is just a glimpse. There are hundreds of other fascinating species of flora and fauna in Madeira, and each plays a vital role in our balance. If I chose to highlight these species in particular, it is because, from my personal point of view and based on what I see every day in the field, they are the ones that deserve urgent attention and protection. We will have the opportunity to talk about all the others in a future article, as there are still so many secrets to share about our nature. But for now, there is an emergency that we must absolutely become aware of.
When we see tourists crowding the Balcões viewpoint to feed wild chaffinches with industrial cake crumbs just to take a “Disney” selfie, it is not love for nature; it is recklessness. These birds get used to begging, fall sick because of the sugar, and stop playing their crucial role in pollinating the forest. The same goes for those who step off marked trails in the Laurisilva to crush rare endemic plants. This lack of respect must stop. Our flora and fauna are not there to decorate your social media.
But if you read these lines and have the desire to see the real Madeira, then you are welcome. During our excursions, we do our utmost to share all our knowledge about our ecosystem with you.
Taking an interest in our ecosystem doesn’t mean consuming landscapes; it means learning to listen to them. Our island has incredible stories to tell those who take the time and who walk our trails with respect.
Travel with an open mind, preserve what you come to admire, and that is how you will leave here with a little piece of the soul of Madeira in you.