The Lagoa do Negro is an

ephemeral lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

and humid zone located in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Biscoitos,

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Praia da Vitória Praia da Vitória (; translating as "Beach of Victory") is a municipality in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. With a population of 21,035 (in 2011), the second largest administrative authority on the island of Terceira, it covers an ar ...

, on the island of

Terceira Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the larger islands of the archipelago, with a population of 53,311 inhabitants in an area of approximately . It is the location ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

archipelago of the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

History

It a small kettle-like ephemeral lake that was first referred to during the primordial period of human settlement on the island of Terceira. Legend suggests in the early settlement on the island there existed a noble family, who owned black slaves.Ângela Furtado-Brum (1999), p.145 The daughter of the

Majorat ''Majorat'' () is a French term for an arrangement giving the right of succession to a specific parcel of property associated with a title of nobility to a single heir, based on male primogeniture. A majorat (fideicommis) would be inherited by t ...

at the time was obliged to participate in a marriage of convenience, in order to increase their landholdings and wealth. It was a loveless marriage and she began an illicit affair with one of her slaves. Eventually, they realized that the only way to fulfill their life was to escape their life together. But, her husband had ordered her handmaid to follow her, and having been relayed their encounters, he ordered the capture of the slave. After hearing hunting dogs, and knowing that it was not a hunting day, realized he was being hunted and escaped to the island interior. After a day and noite of flight he was consigned to his fate, and began to cry. As the legend suggested, his tears multiplied, forming a small pond alongside a woodlot. With his pursuers quickly closing in on horseback, the desperate slave threw himself into the dark waters and drowned.

Geography

It is situated in a zone of scoria cones that form the Serra de Santa Bárbara, along the edge of a

Cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' ...

forest and flanked by Pico do Gaspar. Within a mesotrophic humid zone consisting of aquatic vegetation, including specifically ''Littorela uniflora'' and ''Isoëtes azorica''. It Nearby is the Gruta do Natal, a lava tube system, formed from volcanic eruptions along the Serra de Santa Bárbara system. In 2010 an experimental project was undertaken to recover the biodiversity of the lake, settle migratory birds and transform it for sustainable ecotourism. Researcher Eduardo Dias, a plant ecologists indicated that recovery project assumed "birds were the key role in the creation of biodiversity" and that trails had been poorly designed, creating a constant human presence, that prevented the establishment of bird species. Part of the Central Plateau, it is an area to safeguard migratory birds, including more than 150 terrestrial and marine species. The area of intervention included , with buffer used to support the area of conservation. Owing to the efforts in the region, the

Whiskered tern The whiskered tern (''Chlidonias hybrida'') is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''khelidonios'', "swallow-like", from ''khelidon'', "swallow". The specific ''hybridus'' is Latin for ''hybrid''; Peter Simon Palla ...

returned to the area after an absence of 50 year, in addition to the nocturnal herons. Further, the investigation of surrounding peatlands was undertaken to determine their types, uses and restoration. This included the introduction of rare endemic species of flora, such as ''Marsillia Azorica'' (which is rare throughout the world), and the creation of an ecological corridor between the hills of Santa Bárbara and Pico Alto.

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* * * {{authority control Praia da Vitória Bodies of water of the Azores