Identifying Suitable Restoration and Conservation Areas for <i>Dracaena cinnabari</i> Balf.f. in Socotra, Yemen
Marcelo Rezende,
Petr Maděra,
Petr Vahalík,
Kay Van Damme,
Hana Habrová,
Tullia Riccardi,
Fabio Attorre,
Michele De Sanctis,
Grazia Sallemi,
Luca Malatesta
Affiliations
Marcelo Rezende
Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Petr Maděra
Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology (FFWT), Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU), Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Petr Vahalík
Department of Forest Management and Applied Geoinformatics, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology (FFWT), Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU), Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Kay Van Damme
Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology (FFWT), Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU), Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Hana Habrová
Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology (FFWT), Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU), Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Tullia Riccardi
Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Fabio Attorre
Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Michele De Sanctis
Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Grazia Sallemi
Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Luca Malatesta
Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
We examine the distribution of Dracaena cinnabari, the Socotran Dragon’s Blood Tree, an endangered species endemic to the island of Socotra (Yemen)—and we propose an accessibility approach to its conservation, taking the proximity of local communities and land users into account. Using the present occurrence of D. cinnabari, we applied a machine learning algorithm (random forest classifier) to estimate the potential distribution of the species across the island (overall validation accuracy of 0.91) based on available climatic and physiographic parameters. In parallel, we used an accessibility methodology to generate a map of the energy cost of accessing potential areas from the villages. This community-focused accessibility map, combined with the potential distribution map of Dracaena cinnabari, could contribute to decision-making processes related to long-term ecological restoration and reforestation activities. With our case study, we wish to emphasize that user-focused efforts and the implementation of sustainable land practices should play key roles in conserving endangered tree species.
