The Bible calls the Land of Israel the Land of Milk and Honey. We are urban beekeepers and the honey in Israel is divine. Another contestant for being a honey country is Yemen, on the coast of the Red Sea. We’ve tasted raw honey from Yemen (read about the 8 kinds, some from the sidr tree) and next Sunday, the activities of the National Festival of Yemeni Honey and Bee Products will be launched in Al Sabeen Park in Sana’a under the slogan “Yemen the home of honey”.

Related: The Houthis sing a song for Israel and the Yemen Jews sing back

The festival, organized by the Honey Unit of the Higher Agricultural and Fisheries Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture aims to promote Yemeni honey, revive its status, market Yemeni brands of this cash crop globally, as well as enhance its role in economic growth and reach self-sufficiency with its products.

Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, and like the Hezbollah has taken over Lebanon, Yemen is home to the Houthis, a global Islamic terror group that operates as a state within the state.

Related: How the Houthis use water as a weapon for war

Radwan Al-Rubai from the agricultural ministry said that the festival will be an annual event seeking to promote Yemeni honey of various types and high quality.

The UN is playing an active role in supporting beekeepers in Yemen. And we know from our friend in Israel that Bees for Peace, a project by beekeeper Yossi Oud, works to keep women from all religions and walks of life connected to nature and to a means for making their own money.

Al-Rubai said that Yemen bees are different from all types of bees in the world, and the honey is extracted in areas free of chemicals. Beekeepers do use toxic chemicals to control varoa mites and it would be difficult to know whether or not if these products are being used by individual beekeepers.

The new soon-to-be annual honey festival, to last 6 days, feature Yemen’s honey associations, producers and marketers of honey from a number of governorates. The week will include scientific sessions and seminars on honey productivity managed by experts and researchers in this field. Yemen is also home to unusual socotra tree or dragon tree that bleeds. We wonder what honey from this flowering tree might taste like.

Yemen is one of the world’s poorest and driest countries. Its aquifers are expected to run dry by 2030.

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CABI, an international research group that identifies and solves problems for invasive pests in agriculture and forestry, has published a ‘Guide to the naturalized, invasive and potentially invasive plants of Socotra, Yemen,’ a place designated in 2008 a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site rich in flora and fauna not found anywhere else in the world.

The guide, written by Dr Arne Witt, CABI’s Invasives Coordinator, South, and co-authored by Ahmed Said Suleiman Abdullah, provides detailed descriptions of 50 invasive alien plant species, including more than 200 colour images, with information on their impacts and management.

This includes the species the authors consider to be the biggest threat to biodiversity – mesquite (prosopis juliflora)and erect prickly pear (Opuntia stricta) – as well as the most widespread and abundant species on Socotra, the medicinal herb billy goat weed (Ageratum conyzoides) and Mexican poppy (Argemone mexicana).

‘Galapagos of the Indian Ocean’

The Socotra Archipelago, in the Northwest Indian Ocean is often referred to as the ‘Galapagos of the Indian Ocean.’ Of the ca. 850 plant taxa known from the archipelago, 37% are endemic, while 90% of its reptile species and 95% of its land snail species do not occur anywhere else on earth.

However, much of this unique diversity is threatened by Invasive Alien Species (IAS). To help raise awareness and build the capacity of people and organizations to manage IAS, CABI developed this field guide after working with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (Jordan).

The guide was funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) whose remit includes providing grants and finance for projects related to, amongst others, biodiversity, climate change, land degradation, sustainable forest management and food security.

Threatened by a host of factors

Dr Witt said, “The Socotra Archipelago is ranked among the richest island systems in the world in terms of biodiversity with a rich and distinct flora and fauna. Indeed, Socotra is among the top ten continental islands in the world in respect of botanical diversity alone.

“However, this extraordinary biodiversity is threatened by a host of factors including immigration, uncontrolled infrastructure development, poor governance at local and national level, over-use of the limited available natural resources (both marine and terrestrial) leading to increased land degradation, and plant and animal invasions.”

The authors say that several exotic species have been introduced to the Socotra Archipelago, either intentionally or accidentally, and are now widely established. Their impacts on Socotra are largely unknown but can be inferred from studies undertaken elsewhere. For instance, the black rat and brown rat are widely established and are known to have had dramatic impacts on island fauna and flora – having driven native species to extinction elsewhere.

Dr Witt and Ahmed Said Suleiman Abdullah added that there have been ongoing efforts to eradicate mesquite and erect prickly pear and the populations are low, but the seed bank, especially of mesquite, is a constant threat.

Another species, wild tobacco (Nicotiana glauca), has been eradicated, at least for now, the authors say. Other species, such as wild tamarind (Lysiloma latisiliquum) and Jerusalem thorn, are locally abundant. Then there are a few other species which they believe could become invasive in the future. In the guide, they include various species such as bush morning glory (Ipomoea carnea) and several Datura species.

Improving the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people

Co-author, Ahmed Said Suleiman Abdullah, said, “By managing invasive alien plants more effectively we will not only be contributing to biodiversity conservation, but also to improving the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people who depend directly on natural resources for their survival.”

The Guide, the authors say, will also contribute to Yemen meeting its obligations to various international agreements and treaties, such as the Convention on Biological Control (CBD). By managing IAS more effectively Yemen will also be facilitated in meeting many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Taofeg Abdulwahd Al-Sharjabi, Minister of Water and Environment, Yemen, said, “There is no doubt in my mind that this field guide will contribute significantly to our understanding and management of invasive alien plants in the Socotra Archipelago, and even more widely in the region. I thank all of the contributors and donors that made this possible.”

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It raises the question, is it the allure of a thing denied that makes us more desirous? Spend a moment to see what you’re missing.

Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East. Slightly smaller than France in geographic area, it boasts four properties on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites including the old city of Sanaa (following two images), the historic town of Zabid, the old walled city of Shibam made from earth, and the otherworldly Socotra Archipelago and islands with the trees that bleed.

Ten other Yemeni sites await determination on UNESCO’s “tentative list”.

Yemen has been at the crossroads of the Middle East,  Africa, and Asia for thousands of years thanks to its place on the ancient spice routes. It’s capital city Sanaa is one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited cities. The country is the only republic on the Arab peninsula, all others are emirates or kingdoms each ruled by a single family.

The country is an unhappy marriage between two distinct states, historically divided as North and South Yemen. North Yemen declared independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British had set up a protectorate centered on the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, and when they withdrew in 1967, South Yemen emerged.

Following years of civil war, Northern Yemen became a republic in 1970. Two decades later, Southern Yemen agreed to merge with the  northern republic but the states soon entered into a new civil war, resulting in thousands of casualties. The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990.

Twenty million people call Yemen home; half are under age fifteen.  They are predominantly Arab, but native ethnicities also include Afro-Arab, South Asians, and Europeans. Ninety-nine percent of the population is Muslim, fairly evenly split between Sunni and Shi’a, with tiny numbers of Christians, Jews and Hindus.

Life is difficult. Unemployment hovers at 30%, with most people employed in agriculture and herding. Less than a quarter of those employed work in white-collar or professional services or in trades. Per capita income hovers around $1000 USD per year.  Life expectancy is short: 59 for men and 63 for women. The average Yemeni woman gives birth to 6.75 children.

Yemen has several distinct climate regions due to extensively variable topography. It’s high mountain ridges run parallel to its coastline, trapping moisture from winds blowing in from nearby seas.  The country has adequate water supplies and is one of the most arable spots on Arabian Peninsula.

It is perhaps most famed for Socotra Island, which boasts its own unique fauna and flora, including the ethereal Dragons Trees – umbrella-like plants that bleed red sap when cut. (See them atop the mountain above.)

Centuries of intensive hunting and agriculture have decreased the natural fauna and vegetation. But Yemen’s natural environment remains fairly robust with about 3,000 plant species, 85 types of mammals, 400 birds and over 100 reptile species. This does not account for Socotra Island’s unique ecosystems.

Have you tried Yemen’s Sidr honey from the mystical and biblical Sidr Tree?

The Grand Mosque in Sanaa is one of the most important mosques in the Islamic world.  Built during the life of the Prophet Mohammad in the 7th century AD, it is the world’s third earliest mosque, preceded only by the Qa’ba Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.

Some embassies are warning visitors to defer “nonessential travel” to my stable hometown of Amman, advising people to avoid “western” shopping malls and areas of peaceful demonstrations, precautionary guidance that we swallow with a grain of salt.

There are wide opportunities for stellar and safe exploration of the Middle East, but the long-term effects of civil unrest threatens tourism in general, and the environmental programs that depend on touristic income for support.

These important images remind us of the breathtakingly beautiful countries, rich with history, that may one day soon be reopened for exploration.

That will be a happy day for Yemen, long ago described in Latin as the Happy Arabia.

Images from Mashable, taken by – in order of appearance – boats by Michael Runkel/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis; Haraz mountains by Arne Hodalic/Corbis; Sana’a clothes-seller by Michael Runkel/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis; shopkeeper in Old Town by Michael Runkel/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis;Village in the Haraz Mountains by Arne Hodalic/Corbis; mosque by Arne Hodalic/Corbis; and Sana’a at night by Arne Hodalic/Corbis

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