'Yemen Hires Its Biggest Island Out To UAE For 99 Years'

Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi is making arrangements to hire the island Socotra, located in the south, said a Lebanon based TV channel. Reportedly, the island will be hired out to Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates (UAE) for 99 years.

According to Al-Mayadeen TV channel’s news, the island was offered for UAE to get its support for the civil war in Yemen, no further information about the negotiation was provided yet. Reportedly, the island may also be under the governance of US. It was also mentioned in the news that the island will be hired for the investments of touristic, economic and navigation fields.

The mystery island of the Earth; ‘Socotra’

Socotra is an island and a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean. Socotra is part of Yemen. It had long been a part of the Aden Governorate. In 2004 it became attached to the Hadhramaut Governorate, which is much closer to the island than Aden (although the nearest governorate was the Al Mahrah Governorate). In 2013, the archipelago became its own governorate.

The island of Socotra is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some 240 kilometers (150 mi) east of the Horn of Africa and 380 kilometers (240 mi) south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. It has been described as "the most alien-looking place on Earth". The island measures 132 kilometers (82 mi) in length and 49.7 kilometers (30.9 mi) in width.

The long geological isolation of the Socotra archipelago and its fierce heat and drought have combined to create a unique and spectacular endemic flora. Botanical field surveys led by the Centre for Middle Eastern Plants (part of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) indicate that 307 out of the 825 (37%) plant species on Socotra are endemic, i.e., they are found nowhere else on Earth. The entire flora of the Socotra Archipelago has been assessed for the IUCN Red List, with 3 critically Endangered and 27 Endangered plant species recognized in 2004.

The island group also has a rich fauna, including several endemic species of birds, such as the Socotra starling (Onychognathus frater), the Socotra sunbird (Nectarinia balfouri), Socotra bunting (Emberiza socotrana), Socotra cisticola (Cisticola haesitatus), Socotra sparrow (Passer insularis), Socotra golden-winged grosbeak (Rhynchostruthus socotranus), and a species in a monotypic genus, the Socotra warbler (Incana incana). Many of the bird species are endangered by predation by non-native feral cats. While there are no native amphibians, the reptiles species are over 90 percent endemic to Socotra and include skinks, legless lizards, and one species of chameleon, Chamaeleo monachus.

As with many isolated island systems, bats are the only mammals native to Socotra. In contrast, the coral reefs of Socotra are diverse, with many endemic species. Socotra is also one of the homes of the butterfly Bicyclus anynana.

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Thursday, February 11, 2016
Var of promotional video of island
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