Balqa: Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry Directorate began “sustainable” afforestation by shifting from typical efforts by exploiting treated water used in various industries in all the Kingdom’s governorates to ensure forest sustainability.
In remarks to “Petra” on Sunday, the directorate’s head, Khaled Manasir, said forestry departments began the process of planting ancient trees in their original habitat, within the ministry’s national plan, primarily terebinth, carob, laurel, moringa, and medicinal, aromatic, and pastoral plants to benefit from their economic returns.
He pointed out that the ministry signed agreements with organizations interested in the afforestation and environment sector, mainly International Labor Organization, FAO, GiZ, and the United Nations Development Program to contribute to create job opportunities for Jordanian citizens.
Additionally, Manasir said rate of forest encroachments dropped as a result of the technical pruning of 50,000 forest trees within the Kingdom.
Manasir ad
ded that the ministry, in cooperation with the Royal Department of Environmental Protection, successfully arrested suspects classified as a threat to Jordan’s forests and arsonists, who set fires in summer to benefit from lumber in winter, and referred culprits to the judiciary.
He also noted there are 32 vehicles equipped with all the supplies and technical teams concerned with preserving Jordan’s forest wealth.
To date, he announced five sustainable forests were recently created using treated water, cocoon technology and use of indigenous species in areas of Qatraneh, Al-Abyad, Uneizeh, Deir Abi Seed and Jerash.
Area of forest lands in the Kingdom amounted to about 1, 770, 000 dunums, of which 450, 000 dunums are natural forests and 400, 000 others are new launched forests, he said.
Source: Jordan News Agency