Threatened to get out of world heritage .. What did the UAE on the island of Socotra Yemen?

Mohammed Abdul Malik - Yemen

The danger of removing the island of Socotra (the country's most important natural reserve) from the World Heritage List is increasing by the absurd practices of the UAE, which the Yemeni government accuses of trying to control for nearly five years.

Abu Dhabi is deliberately inflicting major damage on the island by bulldozing natural life and buying land and reserves that have a wide variety of endemic plants and host dozens of rare plant species, according to an official at the Yemeni Ministry of Culture.

The UAE also targets recreational resorts that destroy coral reefs, turtle nesting beaches and other rare reptiles and wild snails that are found in no other region of the world except on Socotra.

Violations
Abu Dhabi is also targeting rare birds estimated to number more than 44 species and has become endangered, according to a Yemeni official at the Ministry of Culture.

According to Saleh al-Saqtari (one of the sons of the island), what has become the most threatening to this island, which is called some of the island of happiness is the random buildings built by most of the city's people and influential people in the region in recent years.

"A lot of plants and animals are imported into the island, which actually threatens them, in addition to the actions of people who sweep away soil and trees and kill animals that are not eaten," he said.

In parallel with all these threats and dangers, the problem of arming is demonstrated by supporting the UAE's sheikhs and influencers and encouraging them to ignite and control ongoing conflicts in Socotra after weakening the legitimate government, as happened in the southern governorates.

According to a local official in the culture office in Socotra to the island Net that the manifestations of arming negatively affected the stopping of the arrival of tourists after they meant that island from all countries of the world.

International campaigns
Against these dangers, UNESCO has launched an international campaign to raise awareness of the natural and cultural heritage of the Socotra archipelago, which will continue at the end of October in various major museums, botanical gardens and academic institutes around the world.

According to Ammar Al-Awlaki, Acting Chairman of the Government's Environmental Protection Authority, the campaign's activities include exhibitions of natural history and photography of Socotra in order to contribute to keeping it on the World Heritage List by increasing global awareness about rare and globally distinct biodiversity, and encouraging research centers to conduct studies on climate change and its impacts. Projected on their biodiversity.

Socotra was classified in 2003 as a biosphere reserve, and was listed in 2008 as a World Heritage Site because of its exceptionally unique biodiversity, containing 253 species of reef builder, 730 fish species and 300 species of crabs, lobsters and shrimp.

Quiet environment
Socotra has a population of about 400,000 people, all of whom have lived for decades in a peaceful and peaceful environment and their island has remained completely cut off from the rest of Yemen due to the inaccessibility of the sea by sea, which greatly helped its inhabitants to maintain.

Most of the population is fishing, but they now face large ships from the UAE and other countries, which they say threaten their livelihoods and seek to loot fish.