Millions of years of evolution could be wiped out on 'Galapagos of the Indian Ocean,' conservationists warn

The Yemeni island of Socotra was largely unspoiled, its few guests arriving to trade for aromatic frankincense. Now it is threatened by climate change.

Sitting off the Horn of Africa, the Yemeni island of Socotra was largely left to its own devices for centuries, its few guests arriving to trade for aromatic frankincense, the healing plant aloe and the crimson sap of the dragon’s blood tree, used for dyes.

Roughly the size of New York’s Long Island, Socotra is about 140 miles off the coast of Somalia, a remote location that has allowed a unique ecosystem to flourish. It has a rich array of bird and animal life, and the coral reefs off its shores teem with colorful marine life. One-third of its 825 plant species cannot be found anywhere else on Earth, according to UNESCO.

Some, including conservationist Kay Van Damme, have called it the Galápagos of the Indian Ocean and along with other experts, he is warning that millions of years of evolution on Socotra could be under “serious threat.”

“Climate change is by far the biggest threat to the island’s biodiversity,” Van Damme, who has worked on Socotra for more than two decades, told NBC News in a call last month. “It is a relatively small island with a predominantly arid climate. Even small additional impacts from climate change can have an outsized effect, putting further pressure on fragile ecosystems.”

A dragon’s blood tree on the Yemeni island of Socotra, a species found only on the Indian Ocean archipelago.Peter Martell / AFP via Getty ImagesProlonged droughts brought on by climate change are compounding damage from devastating cyclones in 2015 and 2018 that destroyed reefs, eroded soil and uprooted rare plants.