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The first people to colonise Tenerife arrived in the first millennium BC. They were of North African Berber stock and brought with them their herds of goats. Archaeological evidence also shows that they cultivated barley and other crops.
Until the arrival of the Guanches, the island had no large herbivores. This is reflected in the general scarcity of native plants with spines - they had no need to develop or maintain protection against grazing animals. Although it is difficult to assess the full impact of these herds on the native vegetation, it is to be expected that it was appreciable.
The Guanches do not seem to have had a great impact upon the forests of Tenerife. Their pastoral lifestyle and primitive technology would not make heavy demands on either the pines or laurels. Their timber and fuel requirements seem to have been relatively modest and sustainable.
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