Princess Basma Bint Ali attends sustainable pasture administration conference

AMMAN — HRH Princess Basma Bint Ali, chairperson of the board of trustees of the Hashemite Fund for the Development of the Jordan Badia and President of the Royal Botanical Garden, on Wednesday attended the inauguration of the regional conference on the sustainable administration of pastures and future challenges. 

Organised by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) office within the Healthy Ecosystems for Rangeland Development (HERD), specialists from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and representatives of international organisations concerned with agriculture and food security participate in the conference, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Addressing the conference, Agriculture Minister  Khalid Hneifat said that His Majesty King Abdullah, through his ongoing directives to the government, is emphasising the need to develop plans to achieve and enhance food security within the framework of comprehensive national plans to improve the national economy, including the agricultural sector. 

Hneifat stressed the ministry's interest in natural pastures, referring to the establishment of the Pasture Directorate in 1996 to promote pastures, which cover about 90 per cent of the Kingdom's area and meet a great deal of food needs for livestock, Petra reported.

Regional Director of IUCN-West Asia Office Hani Shaer stressed the importance of preserving and increasing pastures, stating that conference sessions will examine the challenges facing pastures and develop practical and scientific applicable solutions.