Dr Susan Christie

The field work for this project took place from 27 December 2001 to 26 January 2002 and was most productive. Four sites with large populations of Aloe perryi were surveyed intensively, and additional areas exhibiting the species were visited and notes made on the plants. The search for Duvaliandra dioscoridis proved successful, with one small but healthy population located and surveyed.

A variety of data were collected concerning the ecology of the two species, the physical environments in which they were found and the other plant and animal species which live with them and may influence their distribution and abundance.

Following our highly successful trip in January 2002 we have been writing up the scientific papers on the project. The papers on the comparison between Aloe perryi and Aloe sp. nova and on the conservation status of Duvaliandra dioscoridis have been accepted for oral presentation at the Conference of the Yemeni Scientific Research Foundation in October to be held in Taiz in October 2002, and to be published in the Yemeni Journal of Science. Unfortunately, my colleague will not be able to attend the conference due to work commitments so the latter paper will not be presented, but will be prepared for publication in another Journal. I will be attending the Conference and presenting the species comparison paper.

I am also taking advantage of this trip to spend some additional time on the island in company with other scientific colleagues, following up some of the questions raised in our earlier work. We also hope to do some research on the ecology of Aloes on the Yemen mainland in the area of Taiz in early October. Additional papers are in preparation, and we are continuing our work investigating the possibilities of increasing the harvesting of the Aloe sap which can provide a valuable additional income for local people.