AMMAN — Despite a surge in domestic tourism after the first
wave of COVID-19 hit Jordan in June and July of 2020, the pandemic still left
its mark on Jordan’s burgeoning ecotourism sector.
اضافة اعلان
COVID-19, and the economic loss it brought with it, affected
the work of the Royal Society for Conservation of Nature (RSCN), which relies
directly on the returns of ecotourism to help protect biodiversity in Jordan,
according to officials at the society.
In an interview with
Jordan News, Yehya Khaled, director
general of the RSCN noted that RCSN made over 2 million Jordanian Dinars from
ecotourism initiatives in 2019, according to financial statements listed on
their website. These funds make up 50 percent of the operational expenditures
allocated to manage and protect parks and biodiversity.
However, that revenue dropped off significantly in 2020 due
to the pandemic. The RSCN saw its revenue from ecotourism plummet by more than
50 percent, to around JD760,000, Khaled said. Visitor numbers also slid by 35
percent.
“We took out a loan in 2020 from the Central Bank … of
around JD1 million to fulfil our obligations,” Khaled told
Jordan News.
Another hit to the RSCN’s income came to their social
development sales, which dropped from around JD850,000 in 2019 to around
JD200,000 in 2020, Khaled said.
According to the RSCN, ecotourism initiatives are meant to
generate self-sustaining income that supports protection efforts, changes
attitudes towards conservation, and creates jobs that do not put strain on the
environment.
“We have asked for
permits for the rangers. We asked for permits for 40 rangers and they only gave
us 10,” Khaled told
Jordan News.
In a phone interview, Khalid Al-Irani, president of the
RSCN’s board of directors RSCN, told
Jordan News that biodiversity in Jordan
was already facing challenges such as urbanization, overgrazing, agricultural
activities in areas of biodiversity, and overhunting.
However, these challenges intensified during the pandemic,
due to governmental restrictions imposed on movement and a decline in number of
rangers allowed to work during curfew hours, he said.
The RSCN added that the pandemic was a double-edged sword
for biodiversity. The reduction in development projects and tourists helped
biodiversity by largely leaving flora and fauna alone. But the loss in revenues
is likely to take its toll on an industry that was just finding its footing in
Jordan.
The Jordanian Environmental Protection Law No. 6 of 2017 is
the current applicable environmental law. These laws include protections for
nature reserves and parks. However, Irani said that the enforcement of
environmental laws in Jordan is currently weak.
“The resources coming for biodiversity from the government
are very minimal. There is no serious investment in biodiversity from a
governmental point of view,” said Irani.
Jordan News attempted to contact the Ministry of Environment
but they were not available for comment.
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