Socotra: Why this Yemeni island is called the strangest place on earth | World News

The Socotra Islands in the Indian Ocean are known as the strangest places on Earth due to their strange, long-lost, otherworldly features. Isolated from the African continent for 18 million years, the Socotra Islands have evolved into an evolutionary laboratory due to their isolation. UNESCO reports that about 37% of its 825 species of flowering plants are endemic, meaning they are found only on Socotra and nowhere else in the world. The Dracaena is by far the most famous plant found on Socotra. The plant has an umbrella-shaped canopy that collects water from the mist that forms on top of the mountain. So it’s an evolutionary miracle. In addition to Socotra’s unique biology, the IUCN World Heritage Outlook notes that Socotra is considered the “Galapagos of the Indian Ocean” and defies normal standards of nature.

Why Socotra is called the strangest place on Earth

Socotra is known as the strangest place on earth, mainly because the island’s geology has undergone extreme changes over millions of years. The islands that form today’s Socotra were originally part of the former supercontinent Gondwana. They separated from the supercontinent Gondwana during the Miocene Epoch (about 18 million years ago), creating a biological time capsule in the Indian Ocean. According to the paper published in ResearchGate, Socotra is a “continental fragment” rather than an island formed by volcanic processes like most other islands, and it has been a separate landmass from Africa for about 18 million years. The millions of years that Socotra was isolated from the African continent are a testament to the power of alternative speciation. The island was physically isolated from the mainland due to tectonic changes, and its flora and fauna were forced to adapt to Socotra’s unique limestone plateau and semi-desert climate, completely isolated from their African ancestors

Why is Socotra famous?

According to the UNEP-WCMC World Heritage Data Sheet, trees are the island’s most famous inhabitants and they look like something out of science fiction. Dracaena cinnabari: It has a unique umbrella-like shape developed through evolution to provide shade to the roots while capturing moisture from mountain fog in dry, arid climates.Socotranum bottle tree (Adenium obesum subsp. socotranum): More commonly known as desert rose. They have large, bulging trunks that can hold large amounts of water year-round. Therefore, they can produce beautiful pink flowers at any time, even during periods of extreme drought.

“The Galapagos Islands in the Indian Ocean”

Socotra is often compared to the Galapagos Islands by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) because of the diversity and number of endemic species it supports.According to the World Heritage Data Sheet of the United Nations Environment Program World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC), Socotra is home to an astonishing variety of organisms found nowhere else: 37% of plants; 90% of reptiles; 95% of land snails.Two species, the Socotra starling and the Socotra sunbird, are important biological indicators of the overall health of the island’s ecosystem.

What are the conservation challenges?

Although the island may seem alien, its threats are relevant to this world. Climate change and changes in the way local people use the land are threatening this ecologically significant “living museum”. Increasing heavy rainfall from Indian Ocean cyclones will have a devastating impact on the already slow-growing Dragon’s Blood Forest.Organizations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) work with local community members to help them continue to meet modern needs while ensuring that the remainder of the UNESCO World Heritage site, designated in 2008, is protected.