Cal Islet
{{Short description|Island in the Madeira Archipelago, Portugal}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Cal Islet
Ilhéu da Cal
| image_name = Porto Santo 2011 140 (7263644522).jpg
| image_caption = Cal Islet, viewed from Porto Santo
| image_size =
| map_image = Ilhéu da Cal location map.svg
| map_size =
| map_caption = Location within the Municipality of Porto Santo
| location = Atlantic Ocean
| coordinates = {{Coord|33.0089|N|16.3869|W|source:kolossus-ptwiki|display=it}}
| archipelago =
| total_islands = 1
| major_islands =
| area_km2 = 1.40
| length_km =
| width_km =
| highest_mount =
| elevation_m = 178
| country = {{PRT}}
| country_admin_divisions_title = Autonomous Region
| country_admin_divisions = {{flag|Madeira}}
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = Municipality
| country_admin_divisions_1 = Porto Santo
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 = Freguesia
| country_admin_divisions_2 = Porto Santo
| population = 0
}}
{{Redirect|Ilhéu de Baixo|an island of the same name in the Azores|Baixo Islet}}
Cal Islet ({{langx|pt|Ilhéu da Cal}}, also: Ilhéu de Baixo) is a small island about {{convert|500|m|ft|abbr=on}} south of Porto Santo Island, in the Madeira Archipelago, Portugal. With an area of {{convert|1.40|km2|abbr=on}},[http://mapas.dgterritorio.pt/viewer/index.html m@pas online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914231020/http://mapas.dgterritorio.pt/viewer/index.html |date=2018-09-14 }}, Direção-Geral do Território Cal is the largest of six islets close to Porto Santo. The highest point is {{convert|178|m|abbr=on}}.[https://cm-portosanto.pt/porto-santo-historia/ Porto Santo – História] The islet has never been inhabited.
History
File:Porto Santo - Ilheu de Baixo.jpg
Cal Islet houses an important testimony to the history and culture of Porto Santo. It was once mined for lime (cal in Portuguese). Its extraction led to several accidents, one of which killed sixteen workers, victims of a mine collapse. The mines are no longer active, but remnants are still intact and can be visited with a proper license and specialized escort.
The construction of a cable car was planned to connect the tip of Calheta (in Porto Santo) to the islet. The project was abandoned because the large numbers of visitors would have endangered the regeneration of the islet's fragile ecosystem.{{cite web |url=https://www.visit-portosanto.com/ilheu-baixo-da-cal-porto-santo/ |title=Ilhéu de Baixo ou da Cal em Porto Santo |publisher=visit-portosanto |access-date=October 10, 2020}}
Ecological Preservation
File:Praia do Ribeiro Cochino (22942649495).jpg
Despite its rough appearance, this islet is home to a very rich flora, which includes the usual coastal shrubs and some traces of laurisilva, probably due to its difficult access. It is also a breeding ground for at least four species of birds, the Atlantic canary, the Berthelot's pipit, the plain swift and the little shearwater{{cite web |url=http://www.spea.pt/IBA/IBAs%20PDF/PT089.pdf |title=Ilhéus do Porto Santo |publisher=SPEA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610180856/http://www.spea.pt/IBA/IBAs%20PDF/PT089.pdf |access-date=October 10, 2020|archive-date=2007-06-10 }} and home to endemic land snails, Amphorella cimensis{{cite iucn |author=Teixeira, D. |author2=Cameron, R. |author3=Groh, K. |author4=Seddon, M.B. |year=2017 |title=Amphorella cimensis |volume=2017 |page=e.T171511A85579448 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T171511A85579448.en |access-date=5 October 2018}} and Leiostyla relevata.{{cite iucn |author=Seddon, M.B. |year=2011 |title=Leiostyla relevata |volume=2011 |page=e.T11470A3281916 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T11470A3281916.en |access-date=5 October 2018}} For these reasons, its ecosystem is protected by the Portuguese PDM and Rede Natura 2000.
{{Quote|text=In these areas with very high ecological value and great vulnerability to human pressure or reduced capacity for regeneration, only activities of a scientific nature are allowed and, exceptionally, in previously selected areas, places of observation in the scope of leisure and recreational uses.|source=Municipal Master Plan of Porto Santo, article no.54.}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://olhares.aeiou.pt/ilheu_da_cal_foto305289.html Olhares.aeiou.pt: photo of Cal Islet—Ilhéu da Cal]
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