Saving the dragon’s blood: how an island refused to let a legendary tree die out

A unique species on Socotra in Yemen, famed for its bright red resin and umbrella-shaped crown, has been in decline for years. Now islanders are leading efforts to save it

Just after 4am on the Diksam plateau, near the centre of Yemen's Socotra Island, a loudspeaker stirs local people from their sleep with the day's first call to prayer. A heavy fog drifts over the plateau and a breeze ruffles a half-dozen green and blue nylon tents sheltering American and European tourists who have come to glimpse one of the island's most iconic and otherworldly species: a strange, upside-down tree called the dragon's blood (Dracaena cinnabari).

As the sun rises, the fog recedes, illuminating a small cluster of buildings that form the village, the campsite and, to the west, a single paved road winding its way past the jagged Hajhir mountains toward the northern coast.

The rapacious eating habits of Socotra's goat population are thought to have contributed to the decline of the dragon's blood tree. Photograph: Jess Craig