there are 6 protected areas in the madeira archipelago, including the madeira natural park. this park, which covers over 2/3 of madeira island and includes the entire laurel forest, is a european council biogenetic reserve since 1992, and a unesco world natural heritage site since 1999. additionally, 11 sites in the whole archipelago are part of the natura 2000 network and 11 other sites are designated important bird areas.