Fanal forest by Jaco Verheul

In the north of Madeira, you will find Fanal Forest, a mysterious forest full of laurel trees where it feels like you are stepping into a fairy tale. The branches of the trees have all sorts of shapes that make the forest seem alive. Moreover, the trees are covered with as many as 20 species of rare moss. This, combined with the thick fog that often hangs here, makes Fanal Forest very mysterious.
Laurel forests can be found all over the world, often in areas with high humidity. A laurel forest is therefore often seen as a subtropical forest. Almost the whole of southern Europe was covered with this special type of tree millions of years ago, but today bay laurel forests are found almost exclusively in the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. In addition, the laurel forest on Madeira, with 15,000 hectares, is the largest and best remaining laurel forest in Europe. In the past, even before people settled on Madeira, the island was completely covered with laurel trees. Unfortunately, most of it was cut down and today the laurel forest covers only one-sixth of the island. Fortunately, today's laurel forests are protected and the forest is on Unesco's World Heritage List. And that is just as well, because the forest has great ecological value and it ensures a good water balance on the island. Moreover, the biological diversity here is enormous. Madeira's current laurel trees are estimated to be over 800 years old. How bizarre is that!