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Detwah Lagoon
Detwah Lagoon (, also transliterated Ditwah Lagoon) is a lagoon on the coast of Socotra, Yemen. Located on the island's northwest coast near Qalansiyah, the saline lagoon connects to the Gulf of Aden, from which it is separated by a spit. It has been designated as a protected Ramsar site since 2007. Flora and fauna The lagoon contains extensive seagrass meadows, and the shore hosts endemic plants including '' Croton socotranus'' and '' Jatropha unicostata''. The seagrasses provide nursery habitats for juvenile fish, and the lagoon hosts vulnerable species, such as the reticulate whipray and bluespotted ribbontail ray. It is an important roosting and feeding area for waterbirds, and it serves as a breeding site for the Egyptian vulture and Socotra cormorant. Conservation In 2003 the entire Socotra archipelago was designated as a UNESCO biosphere reserve in recognition of its value as a hotspot for biodiversity and endemism. Detwah Lagoon was declared Yemen's first and only Ramsar ...
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Socotra
Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as it comprises around 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies south of the Arabian Peninsula and east of the Horn of Africa. The inhabitants of the island are called Soqotri people, Socotrans, and they speak Arabic and Soqotri language, Soqotri. Socotra is home to a high number of unique species that are endemism, endemic to it. Up to a third of its plant life is unique. Due to the island's unusual geography, it has been described as "the most alien-looking place on Earth". The island measures in length and across at its widest. In 2008, Socotra was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The island is under the control of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a United Arab Emirates-backed, pro-Presidential Leadership Co ...
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Nursery Habitat
In marine environments, a nursery habitat is a subset of all habitats where juveniles of a species occur, having a greater level of productivity per unit area than other juvenile habitats (Beck et al. 2001). Mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass are typical nursery habitats for a range of marine species. Some species will use nonvegetated sites, such as the yellow-eyed mullet, blue sprat and flounder. Overview The nursery habitat hypothesis states that the contribution per unit area of a nursery habitat is greater than for other habitats used by juveniles for the species. Productivity may be measured by density, survival, growth and movement to adult habitat (Beck et al. 2001). There are two general models for the location of juvenile habitats within the total range for a species which reflect life history strategies of the species. These are the Classic Concept: Juveniles and Adults in separate habitats. Juveniles migrate to adult habitat. General Concept: overlap of juven ...
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Ramsar Sites In Yemen
Ramsar may refer to: * Places so named: ** Ramsar, Mazandaran, city in Iran ** Ramsar, Rajasthan, village in India * Eponyms of the Iranian city: ** Ramsar Convention, concerning wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran ** Ramsar site, wetland listed in accord with the Ramsar Convention * Others ** Ramsar Palace The Ramsar Palace or Marmar Palace is a historic royal residence in Iran. The palace is in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Ramsar, a city on the coast of the Caspian Sea. History The Ramsar Palace was established on a land of 60,000 square meters in 1937. T ..., a palace in Ramsar, Mazandaran See also * :Ramsar sites {{Disambig, geo ...
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BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding important sites for birds, maintaining and restoring key bird habitats, and empowering conservationists worldwide. It has a membership of more than 2.5 million people across List of BirdLife International national partner organisations, 116 country partner organizations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wild Bird Society of Japan, the National Audubon Society, and American Bird Conservancy. BirdLife International has identified 13,000 Important Bird Area, Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is the official International Union for Conservation of Nature's IUCN Red List, Red List authority for birds. BirdLife International has established that 1,375 bird species (13% of the total) are threatened with extinc ...
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World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site is nominated by its host country and determined by the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to be a unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable, having a special cultural or physical significance, and to be under a sufficient system of legal protection. World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains or wilderness areas, and others. A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humankind and serve as evidence of humanity's intellectual history on the planet, or it might be a place of grea ...
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UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International security, security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 194 Member states of UNESCO, member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the Non-governmental organization, non-governmental, Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 National Commissions for UNESCO, national commissions. UNESCO was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.English summary). UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the events of World War II, is to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboratio ...
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UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the 'improvement of relationships' between people and their environments. MAB engages with the international development agenda, especially the Sustainable Development Goals and the Post 2015 Development Agenda. The MAB programme provides a platform for cooperation in research and development. , 759 sites across 136 countries, including 22 transboundary sites, have been included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The reserves cover more than 5% of the world’s surface and are home to over 260 million people. Biosphere reserves Biosphere reserves are areas comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems. Its biosphere reserves are nominated by national governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located. Their status is internationally recognized. Biosphere reserves ...
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Socotra Archipelago
The Socotra Archipelago ( '), officially the Socotra Archipelago Governorate ( '), abbreviated to Socotra Governorate ( '), is one of the governorates of Yemen. It includes a number of islands in the Indian Ocean south of mainland Yemen, the largest of which is Socotra. Etymology Scholars' views vary regarding the origin of the name of the island. The name Socotra may derive from: * A Greek name that is derived from the name of a South Arabian tribe mentioned in Sabaic and Ḥaḑramitic inscriptions as Dhū-Śakūrid (S³krd). * The Arabian terms suq, market, and qutra, a vulgar form of qatir, which refers to dragon's blood. History Since before British rule, Socotra had been part of the Mahra Sultanate but later the British captured it and made Socotra a part of Bombay Presidency in British India and so it remained till 1937. In 1937 British made it part of Aden Protectorate. With the independence of South Yemen in 1967, the archipelago was attached to the Aden Gov ...
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Socotra Cormorant
The Socotra cormorant (''Phalacrocorax nigrogularis'') is a threatened species of cormorant that is endemic to the Persian Gulf and the south-east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is also sometimes known as the Socotran cormorant or, more rarely, as the Socotra shag. Individuals occasionally migrate as far west as the Red Sea coast. Despite its name, it was only confirmed in 2005 that it breeds on the Socotra islands in the Indian Ocean.BirdLife International (2011). Species Factsheet: Phalacrocorax nigrogularis.' Retrieved 5 October 2011. The Socotra cormorant is an almost entirely blackish bird with a total length of about . In breeding condition, its forecrown has a purplish gloss and its upperparts have a slaty-green tinge, there are a few white plumes around the eye and neck and a few white streaks at the rump. Its legs and feet are black and its gular skin blackish. All these deviations from pure black are less marked outside the breeding season. There is little i ...
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Egyptian Vulture
The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture in the monotypic genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, West Asia and India. The contrasting underwing pattern and wedge-shaped tail make it distinctive in flight as it soars in thermals during the warmer parts of the day. Egyptian vultures feed mainly on carrion but are opportunistic and will prey on small mammals, birds, and reptiles. They also feed on the eggs of other birds, breaking larger ones by tossing a large pebble onto them. The use of tools is rare in birds and apart from the use of a pebble as a hammer, Egyptian vultures also use twigs to roll up wool for use in their nest. Egyptian vultures that breed in the temperate regions migrate south in winter while tropical populations are relatively sedentary. Populations of this species declined in the 20th century and some island pop ...
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Waterbird
A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabirds that inhabit marine environments. Some water birds (e.g. wading birds) are more terrestrial while others (e.g. waterfowls) are more aquatic, and their adaptations will vary depending on their environment. These adaptations include webbed feet, beaks, and legs adapted to feed in the water, and the ability to dive from the surface or the air to catch prey in water. The term ''aquatic bird'' is sometimes also used in this context. A related term that has a narrower meaning is waterfowl. Some piscivorous birds of prey, such as ospreys, sea eagles, fish eagles, fish owls, and fishing owls, hunt aquatic prey but do not stay in water for long and live predominantly over dry land, and are not considered water birds. The term waterbird ...
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Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray
The bluespotted ribbontail ray (''Taeniura lymma'') is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. Found from the intertidal zone to a depth of , this species is common throughout the tropical Indian Ocean, Indian and western Pacific Oceans in Littoral zone, nearshore, coral reef–associated habitats. It is a fairly small ray, not exceeding in width, with a mostly smooth, oval pectoral fin disc, large protruding eyes, and a relatively short and thick tail with a deep fin fold underneath. It can be easily identified by its striking color pattern of many electric blue spots on a yellowish background, with a pair of blue stripes on the tail. At night, small groups of bluespotted ribbontail rays follow the rising tide onto sandy flats to root for small benthic invertebrates and bony fishes in the sediment. When the tide recedes, the rays separate and withdraw to shelters on the reef. Reproduction is aplacental viviparous, with females giving birth to litters of up to seven you ...
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