Activists hope tree-planting initiative will make environmental awareness take root

AMMAN — Irbid residents planted hundreds of saplings on Tuesday, in an initiative launched by the Bannoura Organisation for Development to increase green landscapes in the northern governorate.

Activists, residents and local authorities in Irbid, some 80km north of the capital, took part in the “Qaynousi” initiative and planted the saplings in Al Mazar Al Jadeedeh area in Irbid’s Deir Youssef, according to civil society activist Ghaith Shuqeiri.

Less than 1 per cent of Jordan’s landscape is green, activists said. The Kingdom is among the poorest countries worldwide in terms of forest cover. The internationally accepted average of land covered by forests is 15 per cent of the total area.

After witnessing the destruction of forests and the degradation of the environment around the Kingdom, the organisation launched several campaigns to promote greenery and forests in Jordan. 

Shuqeiri said many violations are committed “intentionally” by residents in order to get wood for heating purposes or to sell it.

“The green landscapes in Jordan are witnessing a decline. It’s alarming, so we started this initiative, in cooperation with the Irbid Municipality and the Forestry Directorate, to plant 30 dunums of land,” he told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

The activist said the directorate distributes saplings for free to those wishing to plant them in forests or other suitable places. 

Recently activists involved in the initiative have planted around 3,000 saplings on the allocated land, he said, adding that last week alone they planted around 1,000 seedlings in the Deir Youssef area. 

“When we post our plans on social media, the local community immediately shows interest and willingness to cooperate and beautify the space; they want to give back to the land,” Shuqeiri added. 

Far from the public eye, the initiative aims to plant two to three forests every year, organisation founder Amal Omari said. .

The trees planted recently on the 1,200 square metre land include carob, pine, oak and fruit trees, she noted.

“It is an act in response to the fires and deforestation taking place and all the violations against nature,” Omari added.

Forestry land amounts to 1.5 million dunums, of which 250,000 dunums are bare, 400,000 dunums are natural forests, 500,000 dunums are planted forests and 350,000 dunums are nature reserves, according to official figures.

During the last four months of the previous year, the Agriculture Ministry registered 111 violations in forest areas, while during the same period of 2015, a total of 257 violations were recorded, according to the ministry, which indicated that the majority of the violations were recorded in Ajloun, Jerash, Irbid, the capital and Balqa.

The northern governorates, where the country’s green cover is concentrated, witnessed the highest amount of illegal logging.

Some of the violations include cutting down trees from their bases instead of their branches, Omari said, adding that some residents sell or buy them to burn.

“The youngest tree is around 50 to 60 years old. It isn’t right to cut down trees or intentionally start fires in forests,” she told The Jordan Times.

The founder added: “This project can be a tool to raise awareness of the importance of forests.… We can use it as a weapon to draw attention to forests and violations that occur there.”

“When members of the local community are involved in a project, they own it; it’s their work, so they put their heart into it.”