Local Management System of Dragon’s Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnabari Balf. f.) Resin in Firmihin Forest, Socotra Island, Yemen

Abstract

Various nontimber forest products (NTFPs) are produced from the forests and woodlands of Yemen. Dragon’s blood tree resin is one of the commercial NTFPs in Yemen and is produced by tapping Dracaena cinnabari trees, which are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List. By applying a forest resource assessment, the present study inventoried the D. cinnabari forest with the aim of identifying and evaluating its structure, the harvesting status of the resin, and the current management system. The study was conducted in the Firmihin forest, Socotra Island, Yemen Republic. The forest resource assessment was carried out through a forest inventory by measuring trees from 12 plots following stratified random sampling. The relevant parameters of a total of 819 trees were measured, including the tree height, stem height of lowest branches, height of the highest wound, diameter at breast height (DBH), and presence of wounds. The wounds were measured on a total of 401 trees. Value chain analysis (VCA) was used to clarify the flow of dragon’s blood tree resin from the producers to the local, national, and international markets. Traditional management was examined using questionnaires in the case study area and surrounding villages. There are two tapping techniques: (1) collecting the pure dragon’s blood tree resin and (2) cutting part of the bark along with the pure resin. The second technique resulted in 84% of the trees having wounds. The tappers were mostly from the community in and around the forest. The study found that the traditional management system of tapping dragon’s blood tree resin is not sustainable.

Exploring the historical distribution of Dracaena cinnabari using ethnobotanical knowledge on Socotra Island, Yemen

“…Names of dragon's blood tree and its resin have been recorded by old Arabic literatures [ [53][54][55][56][57], by researchers who visited Socotra [ 49,[58][59][60][61] ] and recently by [ 39,[62][63][64] ].…”

“…We have seven groups of names according to the area (Table 2). Ahrieb with its different form of writing and pronunciation is the common local name for all dragon's blood tree species in Arabic (Yemen, Socotra, Oman and Saudia Arabia) [ 39,[62][63][64]87 ]. Although different names appear such as "Ajgal" in Morocco in the Amazigh language and "Embet" in Sudan in the Hadandawa language and "Mooli" in Somalia in the Somali language.…”

“…Although different names appear such as "Ajgal" in Morocco in the Amazigh language and "Embet" in Sudan in the Hadandawa language and "Mooli" in Somalia in the Somali language. In Socotra, there is only one local name for the dragon's blood tree which is "ahrieb"; other names "emsello" for the pure product or "edah" is the mixed product with tree bark [ 39,62,64 ] and due to the difference in dialect, people of western Socotra call it "ahrieb" Socotra. Other current Arabic local names linked the leaves and its similarity with palm leaves such as "khwas" and "khazm", the same is used for the leaves of dragon's blood tree in Socotra "sa'af" which are also used for the palm leaves.…”

“…Contemporary Arabic names of dragon's blood (tree/resin) in Arabic [39,[62][63][64]87 ] A total of 301 toponyms were recorded from the four study areas in Socotra Island (Table4…”

Dragon Trees, Tertiary Relicts in Current Reality

“…trials published by Bauerová et al [30] show the high regeneration potential of D. cinnabari seeds, an endemic on Socotra (Yemen). Two studies on the Dragon tree resin, one on the traditional way of harvesting resin cinnabari described by Al Okaishi [31], while Ding et al [32] reviewed the progress and achievements from applied history as well as induction techniques that are used for formation of dragon's blood of D. cambodiana, which has taken place in Lengálová et al [33] developed the first model of crown age estimation for D. ombet and D. draco subsp. caboverdeana, species that have an important value for population studies and setting up a framework for conservation et al [34] present the results of an extensive serrulata in Oman and an assessment of its threats.…”