The space called the Teno-Rasca Marine Strip is located in the western sector of the island of Tenerife. It covers an area of 69,489.68 hectares and bathes the coastline of the municipalities of Buenavista del Norte, Santiago del Teide, Guía de Isora, Adeje and Arona.
This area has been declared as a Special Conservation Area (ZEC), which is part of the Natura 2000 network, whose aim is to ensure the long-term survival of Europe’s most threatened species and natural habitats, Loss of biodiversity caused by the adverse impact of human activities.
The ZEC is managed in such a way as to ensure the protection and conservation of the types of natural habitats and species of community interest present in the space, adopting the necessary conservation measures to reach a balance
Between the development of uses and activities in the area and the conservation of the natural values it contains.
Natural values present.
This seafront presents very varied funds and of great structural complexity. It has important sandy areas with no vegetation, seagrass beds, commonly known as “sebadales”, sandy bottoms with populations of garden eel (Heteroconger longissimus), maërl bottoms, algales, blanquizales areas, marine caves and reef structures.
The special conditions of warm and calm waters for much of the year, together with the great depths reached near the coast, offer unparalleled characteristics for the presence of large and medium cetaceans, registering up to 22 different species. Some of them, such as the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) or the tropical caldera (Globicephala macrorhynchus), maintain populations living in the area throughout the year. In addition, the sea turtle (Caretta caretta) and the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), as well as specimens of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea), which visit the shallow area Sporadic
