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Good practice Imported

Socotra Conservation Zoning Plan — Community-Based Protection for a UNESCO World Heritage Archipelago

Yemen · Hadibu · See the Yemen profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 59% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 1997, GEF-backed UNDP/UNOPS support has helped Yemen's Socotra Archipelago define 426 km2 of nature sanctuaries, national parks and resource-use zones via Presidential Decree, protecting 825 plant species, a third endemic, through ongoing civil conflict.

426 km2
Conservation zones identified
825
Recorded plant species
4
Fully protected pilot sites

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Yemen Environment Protection Authority, with UNDP–GEF and UNEP–GEF support
Period
1997–present
Keywords
biodiversity conservation, protected area zoning, endemic species, ecotourism

Context

The Socotra Archipelago, off Yemen's southern coast, holds 825 recorded plant species (over a third endemic), including the dragon's blood tree, and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 2008.

Activities

Starting mid-1997, the Global Environment Facility funded a conservation project jointly managed by Yemen's Environment Protection Authority, UNOPS and UNDP, producing the Socotra Conservation Zoning Plan (SCZP), approved by Presidential Decree in 2000 through a consultative, community- and science-based process.

Results

426 km2 of conservation zones have been identified, with four sites — Homhil, Firmhin, Rosh and Dihamri — designated for full protection and given community-updated management plans as recently as 2025.

Conclusions

The zoning plan has proved unusually durable, continuing to function through Yemen's civil war (ongoing since 2015); ongoing threats (invasive goats, cyclones, wartime governance strain) mean the dragon's blood tree remains classified as vulnerable.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — GEF-funded conservation project; specific budget not disclosed in sources reviewed.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Zoning plan approved 2000; still functioning and being revised as of 2025.
Staffing & skills
Yemen Environment Protection Authority, UNOPS, UNDP, GEF/UNEP technical supervision

Conditions for success

  • A consultative, community- and science-based zoning process formalised by Presidential Decree
  • Continued local and international engagement despite civil conflict

Common failure modes

  • Overgrazing by invasive goats, increasingly severe cyclones and wartime governance strain continue to threaten flagship species

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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