Forests covered 1.5% of Jordan in 2018 — DoS

AMMAN — The area of ​​land registered as forests amounted to 1.3 million dunums at the end of 2018, approximately 1.5 per cent of the total area of ​​Jordan.

The Department of Statistics (DoS) noted during its announcement of its agricultural survey results on the occasion of Arbor Day that vegetation covers 3.7 per cent of ​​the Kingdom’s area.

The surveys, which were carried out during the 2010-2018 period, show that trees account for 63.7 per cent of Jordan’s vegetation, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Statistics indicate that increasing forested areas is one of the Ministry of Agriculture’s priorities. In 2018, the area of trees planted alongside roads around the Kingdom reached 5,137 dunums, according to the DoS.

The DoS stated that the results of the plant production surveys showed that the highest production amount of fruit trees was in 2015, reaching 621,200 tonnes.

The least productive year for agricultural production was 2011, with a production amount of 426,500 tonnes, the department said, adding that these differences are due to climatic conditions and common natural phenomena. 

Results of the agricultural nurseries survey showed that 2011 saw the highest amount of tree seedling production, registering 6.9 million seedlings, while the year 2015 was the least productive, with 4.9 million seedlings.