IV.I. Media outreach

Tayf, the Friends of Socotra newsletter includes in each issue a substantial article on project activities. This is available online at the Friends of Socotra website, and shared with local people at each visit in Socotra (in Arabic and English).

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) as well as the State Party (Yemen) referred to the positive work of the Franklinia Projet at the annual meeting in New Delhi in July, 2024.  This is extremely important, as Franklinia was mentioned specifically and acknowledged by the Government of Yemen as well as by UNESCO and IUCN as being highly appreciated and important, with the specific wish to continue such efforts in the future. During the New Delhi Meeting, the Government of Yemen expressed (explicitly) their gratitude towards the project, as an example, in front of all nations present.

Project highlights appear in Nature and in The Guardian in 2022 (Craig, J., 2022. Saving the dragon’s blood: how an island refused to let a legendary tree die out. The Guardian 12 Nov 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/12/saving-dragons-blood-island-refused-let-tree-die-out-socotra-yemen) with attention to the conservation approach by the teams, followed by further media attention. The Nature article was written by a Yemeni journalist, and received high attention in the Arab Region as a positive message for conservation in Yemen (Shihab, J., 2022. Treading carefully: saving frankincense trees in Yemen. Nature 609, 862-863 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02771-z). Second Nature article was written US journalist and pays attention to importance of local leaders in tree conservation – https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00248-x?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=efe4862871-nature-briefing-daily-20260126&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-49956912.