AMMAN - Jordan has become an eco-tourism leader in the Mediterranean region and many of its nature reserves are currently on the world tourism map, demonstrating a model of sustainable development, according to Wild Jordan Director Chris Johnson.
Johnson told The Jordan Times in a recent interview that he spoke about Jordan's 14-year journey in ecotourism at the 2008 International Tourism Exchange Berlin (ITB Berlin) earlier this month.
"At the 2008 ITB Berlin, which is considered one of the world's foremost trade shows for the travel industry, we were representing a country in the Mediterranean region that was a model and a real innovator in ecotourism," Johnson said.
"People... realised that the RSCN has been working away quietly for 14 years in its reserves... the world woke up to find that we were doing something quite special," the Wild Jordan director added.
"The country has come a long way in ecotourism; the first attempt was in Dana 14 years ago and now we have ecotourism operations in six major protected areas," he noted.
Evaluating Jordan's experience in sustainable tourism, Johnson said the Kingdom had reached a point where every protected area now has eco-tourism facilities, which he described as a "pretty significant contribution".
The country is home to seven nature reserves: Dana, Azraq, Shomari, Mujib, Wadi Rum, Ajloun and Dibbeen Forest, according to the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature's (RSCN) website.
The care of the nature reserves has been entrusted to the RSCN, a nongovernmental organisation established in 1966.
Wild Jordan, the society's business arm that develops socio-economic programmes in all of the country's nature reserves, now manages innovative income-generating programmes that build on locally available skills and products and on the tourism potential of the reserves.
Among the small businesses created to date are handcrafted silver jewellery, organic jams, painted ostrich eggs, sandblasted frames, environmental board games and goat leather nature boxes, according to the website.
Seeking to preserve wildlife and biodiversity and ensure they are not disturbed or damaged by tourism projects, Johnson said the society carefully plans every nature reserve.
"For example if you go to Dana, it is zoned and people don't realise that. Ninety per cent of each site is not open to tourists so that the wildlife is able to flourish," the Wild Jordan official said.
The RSCN is currently working hard to develop four new protected areas in the Rift Valley by 2012, as part of the JD13 million Integrated Ecosystem Management in the Jordan Rift Valley, which also provides for the establishment of enterprises to improve the living conditions of the area's inhabitants.
The reserves will be created over a total area of 570 square kilometres in the Yarmouk River basin in the north, Fifa in Ghor Safi, and Qatar and Jabal Masuda in Wadi Araba in the south.
Johnson said these areas represent some of the Kingdom's best ecosystem landscapes.
"The sustainable tourism industry wants people to not just go to the top tourist sites here, but to also know Jordan better," he said, noting that these sites will offer five- to six-day tourist packages as part of the ecosystem programme, during which visitors can explore them all, "from deep wooded valleys to deserts and mountains".
He added that the reserves not only provide beautiful and undamaged natural scenery, but also a sanctuary for endangered animal, bird and plant species.
"Such species include small populations of the Syrian wolf, the last wolves in Jordan, whose habitat is Dibbeen, Mujib and Dana, home to 30 endangered species," said Johnson.
Many of the species in Jordan are globally threatened and a total of 49 different species and subspecies are listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's 2000 Red Data List.
Plant diversity in the country is also facing a dramatic decline due to habitat loss and degradation, which has led to the isolation of many species, resulting in a loss of their genetic diversity and a high risk of extinction, according to the RSCN.
Self-sufficiency
Referring to Wild Jordan's mechanisms to ensure its nature reserves are self-financed, Johnson said most countries with protected areas are struggling to finance them, adding the society raised funds to help finance the Kingdom's reserves and helps them "stand on their own feet".
"We are entirely local people-based in all tourism activities... they are the main beneficiaries and that's another key tourism principle: Local people benefit from the tourism itself."
He cited the Azraq Eco-Lodge as an example, where a local Chechen family runs the kitchen, noting that it is a small business on its own and a model of private sector partnership with NGOs.
"We want to encourage little businesses to develop their own ventures, it could be a family or two, or a cooperative; we work together with them to develop their skills and have the right level of standards," he said.
In order to support the Kingdom's ecotourism industry, the RSCN works as a partner with the government and the private sector, he noted.
"I think this is another thing Jordan is good at; it allows NGOs to be partners with the government... it allows us to generate revenue and collect that revenue which is put back into protecting the sites."
The society's environment-friendly reserves attracted around 40,000 visitors last year, Johnson said, adding that they offer tourists something different from the old sun, sea and sand tourism trend.
"Tourists want to explore natural scenery, they want to see beautiful landscapes, they also want to relate to local people. Ecotourism is not just about looking at the landscapes but also about interacting with the local people."
The society's approximate revenue last year totalled JD450,000, which directly goes back to supporting the sites and local communities.
"The profits are increasing and it is not always easy because a new campsite takes two or three years to cover its costs," Johnson said, adding the intention is to make every nature reserve cover its own costs.
Sustainable development
Despite the country's notable efforts in ecotourism and environment preservation, Johnson expressed concern about the establishment of several investment projects that could threaten its less than 1 per cent green cover.
"The conflict between excessive development and maintaining the landscapes is a real dilemma for Jordan, which means the ministries and NGOs have got to work together in environmental planning so that we don't lose the real essence of Jordan," he said.
Turning to Wild Jordan's future plans, Johnson said the society is expanding fast, therefore exciting ideas are needed.
"We will have a five-star state-of-the-art environment-friendly lodge that will actually be developed by the private sector while ensuring their abidance to very strict environment criteria... Also, we don't believe that you can go on and on expanding tourism and crafts; we are looking for new approaches, one of them is to create career opportunities in the environmental field."
He added that society has drawn up a proposal for establishing an eco-tourism academy in Azraq, linked to the lodge.
"We want to make it a centre of excellence for ecotourism in this whole region so people can be trained in all environmental aspects such as environmental policing and monitoring."
The plan is motivated by the lack of skilled people in ecotourism and environment fields, he said, pointing out that running an ecolodge is not the same as running a hotel.
By Hana Namrouqa
© Jordan Times 2008
