Situated 250 miles off the coast of Yemen, Socotra is the largest member of an archipelago of the same name, a four-island ellipsis that trails off the Horn of Africa into the Gulf of Aden. Socotra, an island of roughly 50.000 people, was colonised by the ancient Greeks who named it the Island of Happiness. A Unesco World Heritage Site, the Socotra archipelago is home to hundreds of endemic or endangered plant and animal species. In the 1990s, a team of United Nations biologists conducted a survey of the archipelago’s flora and fauna. They counted nearly 700 endemic species, found nowhere else on earth; only Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands have more impressive numbers.
The Unesco World Heritage Site listing describes the Socotra Archipelago, as being in the northwest Indian Ocean near the Gulf of Aden, 250 km long and comprised of four islands and two rocky islets which appear as a prolongation of the Horn of Africa. The site is of universal importance because of its biodiversity with rich and distinct flora and fauna: 37% of Socotra’s 825 plant species, 90% of its reptile species and 95% of its land snail species do not occur anywhere else in the world. The site also supports globally significant populations of land and sea birds (192 bird species, 44 of which breed on the islands while 85 are regular migrants), including a number of threatened species. The marine life of Socotra is also very diverse, with 253 species of reef-building corals, 730 species of coastal fish and 300 species of crab, lobster and shrimp.
Lately, Socotra's delicate paradise is witnessing an unprecedented level of destruction, depletion, abuse and irreparable damage caused by foreign investment in developing its tourism industry and exploiting its natural resources. Massive construction of residential cities, ports, hotels, roads and gas stations has begun as well as exploitation of the archipelago's fish fish reserves. An international appeal to the UNESCO has been initiated by a group calling themselves the "Save Socotra International Team". The appeal is asking UNESCO to "use all peaceful, possible, diplomatic and political means to stop the invasion by foreign powers, investors and speculators, and to save the great patrimony of biodiversity, which has been developed over millions of years on the Yemeni island of Socotra, of being lost forever". You can review the appeal at this website. This International Team has also prepared a video presentation in support of their appeal.
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