Floresta eng | ilhadoprincipe

FOREST

Primary forest
Primary forest
Primary forest

PRIMARY FOREST

Locally called Ôbo, this is the forest that occupied the entire Island before humans arrived. After the 16th century, with the introduction of foreign plant species, the primary forest was mostly transformed in the north. Today it is still in very good conditions in the southern half of Principe, protected by the Principe Natural Park, and it remained untouched due to the inaccessibility of the landscape – the Pico Príncipe, Pico Agulhas, Joao Dias Pai and Filho, Pico Papagaio, Pico Carriote and Picos Mencorne. Several species of endemic vegetation can be found all over the primary forest, a well as an incredible fauna.

SHADE FOREST

These forests were and are kept for a very particular reason – they offer shade to cover the famous coffee and cocoa plantations brought and planted by the Portuguese settlers on the Island. They are called shade forests just for that, and are formed by native and also exotic species, from the four corners of the world. This is the easiest forest to identify, due to the plantations that lie underneath. They are also one of the places to try to spot some bird species, like the Grey Parrot or the Principe Sunbird. On Principe the shade forest is located mostly in the north of the Island, around the Roças that controlled the plantations.

SECONDARY FOREST

This forest, known locally as capoeira, is the result of a regenerative process that occurred naturally after the settlers abandoned the sugar plantations centuries ago. There are still some banana and cocoa trees, but they are not kept and will tend to disappear. The largest part of secondary forest is in an advanced stage of regeneration, so many species of the primary forest can already be seen, which is a great sign for the recovery and resilience of the habitat. It can take up to 200 years for the forest to regenerate completely. This is the most disseminated type of forest on the Island.