27 October 2018
The 17th International Soqotra Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Soqotra (FoS) at Bahrain National Museum
the 17th Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Soqotra (FoS) goes on with its sessions and workshops at Bahrain National Museum, where participants shed lights on projects carried out by the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage, Manama, on the archipelago, and the success of such projects thanks to the effective participation of the island’s local community.
Mr. Ismael Salem, who is one of the FoS Country Representative on the island, pointed out to the effective implementation by the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage of many different , such as monitoring the damages caused by cyclones that hit the island, and the projects aimed at documenting the Outstanding Value of the site. Mr. Salem highlighted the importance of involving the local population to carry out these projects, arguing that the Soqotris have a potential amount of information and data that might help in the documentation of the cultural and natural heritage of the archipelago.
Mr. Ismael Salem added that the ARC-WH’s projects based on sustainable development principles, such as the rehabilitation of water tanks in the remote areas, which was carried out in cooperation with Friends of Soqotra (FoS) and the lighting of a village through environment friendly tools, are well received and appreciated. He also noted that these efforts by the ARC-WH included roads network improvement, rehabilitation of environment systems, helping local fishermen hardly hit by the harsh natural disasters and cyclones deserve to be mentioned and saluted. Mr. Salem also emphasized the importance of continuous efforts by the international community in local education, awareness, sustainable development and conservation of the natural and cultural heritage on Soqotra. Mr. Ismael Salem added the that ‘Integrating Cultural Heritage in the Conservation and Development of Planning in Socotra Island’ is currently being held at ARC-WH, in cooperation with the Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh (UK) and sponsored by British Council Bahrain.
The conference sessions also discussed many topics with regard to the enhancement of management system of UNESCO World Heritage List Socotra site since 2008. The participants also shed lights on many tourism marketing strategies withpout prejudice to the site’s natural and cultural components, strengthen institutional and human resource capacity, establish and implement a zoning system for the development plan, promote sustainable land and marine resource management, promote environmental education and awareness, develop and implement an ecotourism management strategy. They noted how The remote situation of the archipelago, poor infrastructure, and severe climatic conditions combined to make initial classification and distribution of the biodiversity difficult to evaluate within the short time frame available. However, the selection of national and international scientists with regional expertise for rapid assessment surveys
combined with the use of satellite data and GIS has helped to surmount these obstacles.
Worth to mention that 17th International Socotra Conference and AGM of the Friends of Socotra is held in Bahrain from 25–28 October 2018 for the first time in the Middle East region. The meeting is attended by more than 60 experts, researchers and specialists in natural and cultural heritage from Arab and European countries, such as UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Yemen, France, Belgium and Britain.
