Preservation, afforestation calls rise in response to  Wadi Al Sham wildfire

AMMAN  — As investigations opened into the Wadi Al Sham wildfire, calls are mounting for the preservation of the Kingdom’s forest cover.

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, on Thursday night reported that Civil Defence personnel, in cooperation with forestry teams from Ajloun and Jerash, aided by Royal Jordanian Air Force aircraft, were working to control the fire that broke out in the Wadi Al Sham forest, located between Husseiniyat and Anjara areas.

Agriculture Minister Khalid Hneifat indicated that the density of weeds and the high temperatures helped quickly spread the fire.

The minister urged the public to avoid setting fires at these times and not to remove weeds by fire around homes or farms.

Zina Hamdan, director of Awraq Organisation for Environmental Development, called for  intensified national efforts to preserve the green cover.

“The most important need at this stage is to raise citizens’ awareness, strengthen the local communities’ connection to forests, and involve them in protecting them,” she told The Jordan Times.

To combat the growing threats to forest wealth, Hamdan called for toughened penalties.

“With regard to climate change and the fires it causes, as environmental activists we must join the local and international efforts in afforestation and combating climate change with a focus on the southern regions of the country such as Wadi Araba and the Southern Badia,” Hamdan said.

Hamdan added that optimal utilisation of desert lands by establishing a green belt to combat desertification is best accomplished by planting indigenous plant species suitable for the nature of the region in order to give threatened ecosystems a chance to flourish again. 

Additionally, these projects must involve local communities in managing and sustaining forests in order to protect biodiversity in arid environments across Jordan, Hamdan noted.