Volunteers plant saplings to revive Ajloun forest

AJLOUN – Ajloun’s sand mingled with the sweat of Suzan Ali Saudi, a three-year-old girl who worked with hundreds  of volunteers led by HRH Princess Basma on Monday to plant saplings in the northern governorate’s Ain Jana Forest.

The 600 volunteers answered the call, which was made under a campaign launched by the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), titled “Johud [efforts] for Green Jordan”.

The volunteers managed to plant 1,000 saplings to revive the forest after many of its trees were destroyed in a recent fire.

“A tree burns, we plant 10 or perhaps 1,000 instead,” said Mohammad Qudah, an Ajloun resident, who had been at the forest since the early morning.

The JOHUD campaign, launched under Princess Basma’s directives to preserve Jordan’s green cover, seeks to engage the local community in the cultivation of the forest in order to enhance their sense of responsibility towards wooded areas, which function as the main “breathing space” for Ajloun residents.

The initiative coincides with the passing of 15 years since the launch of Global Earth Charter Day, whose guidelines were prepared with contributions by Princess Basma, a founding member of the charter.

The JOHUD initiative is also part of the “Ghabati” (my forest) campaign, adopted by the Princess Basma Centre for Development in Ajloun in cooperation with the governorate’s agriculture department.

During the tree planting event, the princess talked to volunteers about the importance of protecting the country’s green cover, which has shrunk to less than 0.8 per cent of the Kingdom’s total area.

Perhaps in the future, a grown-up Suzan will return with her peers to Ain Jinan Forest to rest in the shade of the tree she planted years before, her mother said.