Socotra Archipelago

• Legal frameworks, governance and management systems
• Ground transport infrastructure: road network
• Livestock grazing: sheep, goat and cattle
• Invasive species
• Fishing and collection of marine resources
• Solid waste: primarily in and around main settlements

On 13 February 2017, the World Heritage Centre sent a letter to the State Party to verify information provided in media articles concerning new development projects on the island of Socotra, as part of humanitarian aid provided by a foundation based in the United Arab Emirates.

Following this letter, the World Heritage Centre and IUCN have received further information from a third party about these developments, which are reported to include residential cities, ports, hotels, and roads, without prior assessment of impacts on the unique environment of Socotra and the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property.

At the time of writing this report, no response had yet been received from the State Party.

On 23 May 2017, the General Organization for the Protection of Historic Cities (GOPHCY) sent a letter to the UNESCO expressing concern over ongoing military operations within the property that might affect its OUV. 

It should be recalled that Socotra was hit by two devastating cyclones in November 2015, causing much damage to human settlements, as well as to the terrestrial and marine environments of the property, and that the Committee has expressed its concern that the vulnerability of the property to unsustainable resource use, soil erosion and habitat degradation was likely to have been further increased by the impacts of the cyclones (Decision 40 COM 7B.86), which had not yet been fully assessed.

At its 40th session in 2016, the Committee welcomed the ongoing consideration by the Governorate of Socotra of a policy to cancel all previous decisions to expand main access roads within the property, which responds to a previous request of the Committee (Decision 37 COM 7B.9, reiterated in Decision 39 COM 7B.6) to ensure that the road network in the property is not expanded.

Finally, it should be recalled that in its 2016 report to the Committee (available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1263/documents/), the State Party noted that rehabilitation of the sea port, which was damaged by the cyclones, would be limited to restoring it to its previous condition, and would not include any extensions.

In light of the above, it is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to provide to the World Heritage Centre further information on the development projects and alleged military operations on Socotra, for review by IUCN, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, and that it request the State Party to ensure that any development on Socotra, including those that are part of humanitarian aid, is subject to a rigorous assessment of impacts on the OUV of the property, in line with IUCN’s World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment.

It is further recommended that the Committee reiterate its request to the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to assess its state of conservation, including in view of the impacts from the cyclones, and to support the State Party in identifying priorities for rehabilitation and management activities.