Desertas (Desert Islands)

The Desertas (Desert Islands), are made up of three long and narrow islands that stretch over a distance of about 22.3 kilometres (13.9 miles), and that are part of the Madeira Archipelago. The islands are located off the coast of Morocco, between Madeira Island and the Canary Islands.

The Desertas are composed of Chão Islet, Deserta Grande, and Bugio.

Administratively, the islands are part of the Municipality of Santa Cruz in Madeira. The islands are a designated Portuguese nature reserve and therefore, a licence is required in order to set foot on any of the islands.

Though close to the main island of Madeira, the geology of the Desertas is starkly different. The high, long, and rocky islands of the group are barren of topsoil, and the only wildlife consists of about sixteen species of birds, including eight species of seabirds, and a scarce population of feral goats, rabbits, and rodents, brought from Portugal by the mariners who first stepped on the rocky shores. Native species of wolf spider, as well as reptiles, also exist in the fragile and arid ecosystem.

The only inhabitable island, with its own water source, is Deserta Grande. However, all historical attempts to colonise the island have failed due to the impracticability of communal agriculture. A tiny colony of Mediterranean monk seals inhabit the beaches, and since 1990 the islands have been constituted as a nature reserve for their protection. In 1998 the colony numbered only eight, but today the population numbers approximately twenty seals. Full-time wardens, geologists, and the occasional boaters are the only ones who have visited the Desertas. There are also a few research stations on the islands.