IUCN commission visits Socotra [Archives:2007/1106/Local News]

Musa'ed Suwaileh
For the Yemen Times
SOCOTRA, Nov. 24 ) Recently, a specialized commission from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), along with Minister of Water and the Environment, Abdul-Rahman Fadhle Al-Eryani, paid a visit to Socotra to explore the island's natural features, as well as confirm information indicated in the file to nominate Socotra as an official World Heritage site. David Sheppard, head of the international mission, told the Yemen Times about the IUCN's mission and the importance of putting Socotra on the World Heritage List. He went on to say, “The purpose of the visit to Socotra is to get acquainted with Socotra as a first step towards nominating it as a World Heritage site. It is very important to include Socotra on the list because it has a large number of plants