EXPLORING THE NATURE OF SOCOTRA
by Laura Guglielmone

The island of Socotra is the largest of five islands, which form the archipelago of the same name; situated in the north of the Indian ocean, it belongs territorially to the Yemen Republic, being about 400 km from its coast, although the Horn of Africa is only 250km away.
In 2004 Ethnoflora of th Socotra Archipelago was published, a complete floral analysis of these islands and comprehensive ethnobotanic study.
The book took 10 years to complete. It was the work of a team including two botanists from The Royal Botanic garden in Edinburgh, Anthony Miller and Ruth Atkinson; a photographer Diccon Alexander and the ethnologist Miranda Morris, who has researched the local names of the plants and their role as food and medicine.
About 850 species have been identified on the archipelago of Socotra, of which about 270 are endemic. Such numbers show the rich biodiversity held on those islands, which are considered to be like the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean in this respect.
The long isolation of Socotra, due essentially to its geographical position, as well as sometimes, its political situation, meant that only in the second half of the 19th century were expeditions permitted to study its geology, flora and fauna. Although the island was known to sailors since ancient times, and for the past 400 years had been an important stop along the “Spice Route,” during the 17th and 18th century it was almost unknown to Europeans. At that time the only information received was scarce, particularly travellers’ tales of captains who disembarked to replenish their supplies, including the famous Ibn Battuta who lived on the island for short periods. Then mapping of the archipelago was confined to the landing points and water sources with scant detail of the interior terrain.
In the first half of the 19th century Socotra became a British protectorate and the East Indies Company chose the island as a base for its ships en route to the Orient; this European presence led to the first scientific expeditions.
In 1880 Isaac Balfour (1853-1922), at that time professor of botany at Glasgow University went on an expedition under the patronage of The British Association for the Advancement of Science and its purpose was to make a thorough study of nature on the island. Among members of the board of judges was the well known botanist and explorer Sir Joseph Hooker (1817-1911), who played an important role in the timing of the expedition, which was to take place from November until March.
Initially the leader of this expedition was to be the geologist Colonel Henry Goodwin-Austin (1834-1923): he was Inspector general of the Survey of India,
Only a few years previously he had participated in a project known as the Great Trigonometric Survey which aimed to do a topographical) survey of the British possessions on the Indian sub-continent, as well as measuring the height of the three Himalayan giants K2, Kanchenjunga and Everest.
He intended to map the territory of the island, and to use his skills as a naturalist to good effect. He was also an experienced ornithologist. Thus he was well equipped to oversee both the zoological and botanical collections; however a month before departure Goodwin-Austin resigned and Balfour was called in to replace him. The trip had to be drastically cut to 48 days, due to his academic commitments and took place in March and April which were less favourable in terms of weather. Nevertheless, a large amount of data was collected, not only botanical but also zoological and geological. Balfour is reported to have collected samples representing 5-600 species. Apart from dry specimens he collected many living plants, among which were Dracaena cinnabari and some Aloe,which would increase the collection at Kew. Unfortunately the Italian authorities at the port of Brindisi, where the expedition disembarked to change boats, refused permission for Balfour to continue on to England with his precious cargo. The plants therefore had to follow on another vessel travelling first to Venice and then Suez, finally on arrival in England they were all obviously dead.
The following year another expedition went to Socotra lead by two Germans, Georg Schweinfuth (1836-1925) and Emil Riebeck (1853-1885). During this expedition they not only collected new botanical and zoological material, but also began a study of dialects spoken by the natives. Specimens of the vegetation were sent to Balfour to add to his collection.
The study of all this material was published in 1888 entitled “ Botany of Socotra”, the first real contribution to the flora of the island.
In this book Balfour described about 200 plants new to science that included illustrations of the extraordinary size and appearance of some of the succulents, characteristic of the fascinating landscape of Socotra.
In the final years of the 19th century another three expeditions took place, all quite important for their studies of the fauna. Between 1896 and 1897 Theodore Bent (1852-1897) and his wife Mabel studied the archaeological sites on the island, as well as collecting zoological material, particularily arthropods.
In 1898 W. R. Olgivy-Grant (1863-1924) from the British Museum and H. O. Forbes (1851-1932) from the Museum of Liverpool went to Socotra and Abd al Kuri , making the first complete study of both islands. In 1903 Forbes published the results of these studies in The Natural History of Socotra and Abd al Kuri which is still used today as a reference for these territories.
In 1899 The Academy of Science of Vienna sent an expedition there. There were five members: two linguists, Prof. D.H. Muller,and Dr. A. Jahn, a geologist K. Kossmat (1871-1938), as well as Prof. O. Simony (1852-1915), a mathematician and passionate entomologist, with the surgeon for this expedition Dr. S. Paulay (1839-1913) who was also an experienced botanist. The five scientists visited Socotra, Abd al Kuri and Samha. They collected large quantities of material (about 4000 insects and 400 reptiles),and made notes on botany and geology. These studies were published in 1931.
The first photographic documentation of Socotra goes back to 1918, when the National Geographic published a feature on the island entitled “The Spice Route”.
Charles Moser, the photographer, portrayed the people and the extraordinary plants and landscape, which up till then had only been viewed by a few privileged scientists.
During the second half of the 20th century numerous studies were undertaken on the Archipelago, and in 1968 Michael Gwynne published the first map of the vegetation
on Socotra following his work during a visit under the aegis of Oxford University in 1956.
In the spring of 1967 a contingent of the British Army, part of the Middle East Command, was sent to the islands. Some of whom collected more data, which, though incomplete, was of importance scientifically.
Between 1967 and 1990 access to the island was forbidden by the Yemen making further research impossible. In 1982 the Geographical and Biological Departments of Aden University lead by Yemeni scholars organised its first scientific expedition.
In the last 10 years U.N.E.S.C.O, F.A.O and other international institutions in the field of research have undertaken, in collaboration with the Aden University and Ministry of culture of the Yemen, numerous investigations intended to clarify the complex interactions between local factors and biological entities.
Today the conservation of the unique heritage of the Socotra archipelago is an absolute priority.
The increase of the local population along with their domestic animals and more sophisticated farming methods has created problems of over- grazing in many areas, interfering with the re-generation of the flora.
Added to this is the growing tourist interest in Soqotra, giving rise to fears of damage. There is a need to provide buildings to accommodate the tourist trade.
In 1999 the Socotra Conservation Fund (SCF) was formed, with its head office in the town of Hadiby and another office in the Yemen capital Sana’a. It is an independent institution with some international partners, and proposes to foster studies through the Socotra.Biodiversity Project on how best to protect the habitat of the archipelago. The foundation’s foremost objective is to educate the local population in their understanding of the land. Thus to develop a balance between the economic aspirations of the community and the preservation of the unique natural habitat.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Balfour I.B., 1888. Botany of Socotra. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Vol. XXXI, Edinburgh.
Miller A., Morris M., 2004. Ethnoflora of the Soqotra Archipelago. Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.

http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/soqotra/home/page01.html
http://www.socotraisland.org/fund/