Safeguarding our forests

The fire that destroyed some 500 trees in Ajloun Governorate earlier this week was not the first of its kind and most probably not the last. 

There have been several forest fires in Ajloun over the past few years with arson being suspected as the prime cause. 

It took 130 firefighters from the Civil Defence Department (CDD) more than four hours to extinguish the blaze. 

Maybe 500 trees does not seem a whole lot but in the case of Jordan every tree counts as forests constitute less than 1 per cent of the country’s total area of 97,000 square kilometres.
The Kingdom is among the poorest countries worldwide in terms of forest cover, with the internationally accepted average of land covered by forests standing at 15 per cent of the total area. 

The northern Governorate of Ajloun is “blessed” with no less than 140,000 dunums of forest land covering over 34 per cent of its total area. 

No wonder the destruction of trees by arsonists is viewed as a very serious threat that must be combated by all available means.

The Agriculture Ministry plans to erect watchtowers on forested lands in order to monitor violations that the “logging mafia” is suspected of committing. 

This step is certainly helpful, but much more is needed to protect the country’s shrinking forests. 

To start with, authorities must develop greater expertise in identifying those who are responsible for these crimes against nature. 

It is not enough to suspect arson without developing the know-how to investigate these incidents thoroughly until those who lit the matches to set the trees on fire are identified and apprehended.  

And when they are caught, much harsher punishments must be imposed on them.

Alongside these measures, authorities need to raise public awareness on the importance of protecting our precious forests from abuse. 

Efforts to expand green cover beyond Ajloun should also be pursued with more vigour and determination. 

For years we have been hearing about plans to make Amman, for example, a greener metropolis, with no visible success.

In other words, a lot more can and should be done to make Jordan a greener country and in the meantime protect the limited forested from arson or other threats.