Having visited when it was still very difficult to get there, and to get around once you got there, I found myself ambivalent about news of road development on Socotra. The people there could certainly do with a couple of decent roads: there were none at all when I was there in the late 1980s, and I remember a couple of really heavy walks, carrying herbarium presses to boot. The place is beautiful, and should attract tourists, but they’re going to need roads too. On the other hand, it sounds like the road system and other development may not be as well planned as it might. The only wild relative of the pomegranate is endemic to the island, but I doubt any road is going to go anywhere near the few populations left. As I remember, they were (and hopefully still are) in really inaccessible places.
Yet more potato salad
And part 38. “La papa es peruana.” Chileans unavailable for comment.
Iriomote cat threatened
Not that close a relative of the domesticated cat, but still interesting, and in trouble.
Talking Plants
NPR’s Talking Plants blogger is in the Amazon.
Pioneer agriculture
Photos of Frontier Culture Museum, including agrobiodiversity.