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Hostile seas have long shielded the exceptional island of Socotra from
the outside world. A forgotten footnote of Arabia, the island was
somehow overlooked by explorers, adventures and scientists for most of
the 20th century. The island hosts an array of odd looking plants and so
many endemic species that scientists have named it The Galapagos of the
Indian Ocean.
Conservationists are scrambling to protect the island, but
investors hope to turn Socotra's coastline into a luxury vacation
destination, with wide roads and massive resorts. The stakes could not
be higher. Socotra is classified as part of the 1.6-million-square-km
Horn of Africa Hotspot, which according to conservation International,
is "one of the most degraded hotspots in the world, with only 5 percent
of its original habitat remaining." Socotra's tiny ecosystem remains
intact, but opportunistic economic interests could quickly undo
millennia of isolation.
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