142 species of waterbirds belonging to 23 families recorded in Jordan — RSCN

AMMAN — The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) announced the results of the national waterbirds census, which is considered to be the foundation for monitoring waterbirds and protecting their habitats in the Kingdom.

“Birds play a central role in the ecosystem, as they are a vital indicator of environmental health and ecosystem productivity,” according to a RSCN statement sent to The Jordan Times.

The census, which was first carried out in the autumn of 2000 in Jordan by the RSCN, is part of the International Waterbird Census (IWC), which was launched back in 1967 by Wetlands International, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wetlands, the statement said.

“Without the IWC, we would not be able to provide immediate action and the proper management, and these precious ecosystems would be destroyed, with tragic consequences for human livelihoods, biodiversity and climate adaptation,” according to the Wetlands International website.

The census is implemented in the second week of January every year, a date that is universally agreed upon, aiming at identifying the numbers of waterbirds and their places of distribution, Mohammad Zu’bi, an ornithologist at the RSCN told The Jordan Times over the phone on Thursday.

“Local figures are used in international bird censuses, with the aim to consolidate global efforts towards the protection of waterbirds,” Zu’bi said, adding that 142 species of waterbirds belonging to 23 families have been recorded in the Kingdom.

“Waterbirds are birds that are ecologically dependent upon wetlands,” Zu’bi noted, adding that “the majority of the waterbirds recorded in Jordan are migratory birds that use the wetlands across the Kingdom as feeding grounds and resting shelters, in order to continue their journey,” he said.

According to the RSCN statement, Jordan is the “only country in the Middle East that annually carries out waterbirds census”, whereas the Kingdom’s statistics in this area have become a key part in the process of identifying the status of waterbirds at the global level.