- [Voiceover] Stepping onto Socotra Island

is like setting foot on an alien landscape.

This place is one of the most isolated landforms

on Earth.

Located in the Arabian Sea, south of Yemen,

the island separated from the mainland of Africa

between six and seven million years ago.

There are nearly 700 endemic species on Socotra

that are found nowhere else on the planet.

Perhaps the most head-turning of Socotra's species

is the dragon's blood tree.

These strange umbrella shaped trees dot the island.

Its top-heavy design is actually an adaptation

to Socotra's arid climate.

The large green crown provides shade

which reduces evaporation in a place

that sees very little rainfall.

This otherworldly gem has experienced threats

to its ecology from human development.

But the United Nations stepped in in 2008

designating it a UNESCO heritage site.