Inishmore cliffs, Irland

Off the Irish coast, the Aran Islands-Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Inisheer-which has 90 m cliffs, protects Galway Bay from the Atlantic Ocean's rough winds and currents. The largest island, Inishmore, (14.5 by 4 km), is also the most populated. For centuries, the inhabitants have helped fertilize the soil of these islands by regularly spreading a mixture of sand and algae on the rocky ground. This is meant to provide the thin layer of humus necessary for farming. Flowers and rare delicate ferns can thrive there. To protect their plots of land from wind erosion, the islanders built a 7 000 mile network of wind breaking low walls which makes the land look like a gigantic mosaic. The Aran Islands rely on fishing, farming and stockbreeding for most of their resources but they are now attracting an increasing number of tourists interested in the majestic fort of Dun Aonghasa which dominates the Atlantic coast and the hermitages and churches that are relics of the early days of Christianity in Ireland.