A major focus of RBGE research on the Socotra Archipelago is the production of an “Ethnoflora” of the islands. This will be a joint botanical / ethnobotanical manual to enable future workers to identify plants that grow in the region and know which are of importance to local people. In order to make the publication as accessible as possible an innovative approach is being taken to diagnostic keys. The manual is the result of a joint collaboration between Arabian plant expert Tony Miller, the ethnologist / linguist Miranda Morris and botanist / designer Diccon Alexander. Between them they have over ten years experience of research in the Socotra Archipelago, including consultancies for WWF, IBPGR and GEF.

The “Ethnoflora” is funded by the Darwin Initiative (UK government) as part of a four-year project to create a comprehensive inventory of the flora of the islands. This information will be fed into an existing conservation programme managed by UNDP and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The manual provides user-friendly information on where different plant species grow on the islands, how they are used by local people, and how they can be identified in the field and herbarium. The identification guide is being designed by Diccon Alexander and uses an illustrated key to help people who do not have specialised botanical experience. The first drafts of the guide were tested in the field in 1996 and will be retested in 1999 before publication of the complete manual in late 1999.