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The 17th Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Soqotra (FoS) has come to end on 28 October 2018 at Bahrain National Museum. Worth to mention that Bahrain hosted Soqotra conference, held for the first time in the Middle East region, and was attended by more than 70 experts, researchers and specialists in natural and cultural heritage from Arab and European countries, 15 of them from Soqotora archipelago. 

The Yemeni Soqotora archipelago, one of the most exceptional UNESCO World Heritage List natural site in a neglected island, which includes large numbers of plant species, reptiles, birds and marine animals that are not found anywhere else in the world and distinguish it from other natural sites.

Now, Socotra Island is facing many challenges and undergoing rapid development, out of balance with conservation. Major causes for biodiversity loss in other global insular ecosystems such as habitat fragmentation and degradation, pollution, invasive species and the impact of tour-ism, are becoming pressing issues that deserve close attention. Unsustainable resource use, the loss of traditional land management and illegal trade in biota are worrying phenomena that further increase the pressures on Socotra's ecosystems, as well as on other world heritage sites in Yemen. This Human-mediated disturbances have catastrophic effects on island ecosystems over short timescales, regardless of the fact that insular biota evolved and persisted under extreme climatic conditions over long periods.
For three days, the sessions of the annual meeting, organized by organized by the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage Manama, Bahrain, in cooperation with the Friends of Socotra and Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities, shed lights many issues under the main theme titled, “Natural and cultural linkages on Soqotra”. The participants which discussed many topics like the traditional cultural traditions and practices in Soqotra, biodiversity, archaeology and sustainable development. The meeting also reviewed the role of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage Manama in supporting the local community.
The meeting’s working groups have ended by issuing recommendations with regard to enhancing the role of women in heritage documentation and safeguard. Small projects carried out by female associations to produce artisanal handicrafts can help in this regard.

The participants also urged to a devise and launch a World Heritage introduction program in Socotra and Yemen with the aim to raise national awareness of the property; Further invest and capitalize on best practices empowering local communities to acquire a leading role in managing their cultural and natural heritage within an effective collaborative management approach to biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. This includes the community based sea turtles conservation, honey production initiative, ecotourism and protected areas management programs, as well as conducting activities to promote the use of the endangered Soqotri language. The endangered Soqotri language is also further threatened as the proportion of residents on the island who speak it diminishes.
Worth to mention that the conference initiated a successful promising workshop titled, 'Integrating Cultural Heritage into Conservation and Development Planning', which was held at the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH) from Sunday until Thursday, with the participation of 8 Yemenis trainees and 7 expert supervisors and trainers, representing cultural heritage documentation, archaeology and plants’ science. The Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage organized this workshop, in cooperation with the Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh (UK) and sponsored by British Council Bahrain for five successive days. In addition, Bahrain National Museum screened a world renowned and awarded movie "Socotra the Island of Djinns” by Jordi Esteva from Spain, as well as hosting the annual “Friends of Socotra” conference.