Zayla

Zeila, also spelled Zayla, is a historic port town in the Awdal region of Somaliland, on the Gulf of Aden coast near the border with Djibouti, known for its coral reef, mangroves and offshore islands, which include the Sa'ad ad-Din archipelago.^[1] The 2018 United Nations List of Protected Areas of Somalia includes Zayla as a designated national park.^[2]

Counts on the Zeila archipelago recorded 99 coral species from 43 genera, in reefs described as the most diverse and well-formed on the Gulf of Aden coast, along with 132 species of coral fish.^[3] More than 100,000 breeding pairs of birds have been recorded on Sa'ad ad-Din Island alone, and Aibat is also the site of a major bird colony.^[3]

Mangroves are among the features for which the Zeila coast is known.^[1]

The Zeila Archipelago consists of six small, low-lying islands with sandy beaches, the largest being Sacadin, about six miles offshore, and Aibat, about nine miles offshore.^[3] The town itself sits on a sandy spit surrounded by the sea.^[1]

Zeila has a hot desert climate under the Koppen classification, BWh.^[1] Somalia's year follows four seasons: Jilal from December to March, the harshest dry season; Gu from April to June, the main rainy season; Xagaa from July to September, a second dry season; and Dayr from October to December, the shortest rainy season.^[4]

Most modern scholars identify Zeila with Avalites, mentioned in the first-century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, although this is disputed.^[1] By the 9th century it was the capital of the early Adal Kingdom, and it later belonged to the Ifat Sultanate.^[1] It came under Ottoman protection from the 16th century and became part of British Somaliland after an 1888 Anglo-French agreement.^[1] The town's two-mihrab Masjid al-Qiblatayn dates to the 7th century and is its oldest mosque, and the Sa'ad ad-Din archipelago offshore is named after Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din II of Ifat.^[1]

The United Nations list records Zayla as a designated national park, with no reported year of designation, area or IUCN category.^[2] Following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the IUCN and other NGOs worked with local authorities to establish protected areas and monitor fishers on the Zeila islands.^[3] In April 2022 Blue Ventures reported that it was supporting conservation organisations in Somaliland towards establishing the first community-led marine protected area in the Zeila district.^[5]

No trails or maintained visitor routes have been developed. The town contains ruins of the Muslim Sultanate of Adal and the 7th-century Masjid al-Qiblatayn, its oldest mosque.^[1] Offshore, the islands of the Zeila Archipelago have coral reefs and bird colonies.^[3]

Zeila had about 18,600 residents in 2012.^[1] Borama lies 243 km southeast of Zeila and the Ethiopian city of Harar is about 320 km to the west.^[1] The islands lie offshore, Sacadin about six miles and Aibat about nine, and have no permanent residents.^[3] Anyone considering travel should consult current government travel advisories first.

Fishers in Zeila district fish the Gulf of Aden and sell their catch locally and in Djibouti and Yemen; they take longer to catch the same quantity of fish, and catches are declining.^[5] Blue Ventures reported in April 2022 that it was supporting conservation organisations in Somaliland towards establishing the first community-led marine protected area in the district, and that, following ongoing discussions with Secure Fisheries, it had been invited to present its work to the newly established Zeila co-management association, government ministries, NGOs, UN agencies and the private sector. The community proposed Filfil island as a site, which it considers critical for species reproduction and growth.^[5] There has been little formal protection or management of most Somali protected areas since the central government collapsed in 1991.^[6]