AMMAN — Forests and green spaces are protected by
rangers belonging to the Forestry Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture
and inspectors of the
Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), many
of whom are subjected to attacks by illegal loggers, including being shot at.
اضافة اعلان
I was shot by illegal loggers more than once,” said
a ranger who works for the Forestry Directorate in the Northern Jordan Valley
and preferred anonymity.
He urged intensified cooperation with the
environmental police to secure greater protection for rangers.
“The absence of directorate patrols in the region,
in many cases, makes us more vulnerable to attacks,” he said, adding: “No
serious legal action was taken against some of the aggressors who were
arrested; they were only fined and made to sign a pledge”.
The ranger complained about the long working hours
and the small number of rangers in the area where he works, with two having to
cover an area of 500 dunums per day.
The
Ministry of Agriculture does not provide
motorcycles, so “rangers use their own,” he said.
A forest ranger is
an employee who enjoys the capacity of judicial police and who carries out
inspections, monitors forests or reserves, and protects them from any
violations regarding trees, such as cutting, sabotaging, or hunting endangered
animals, said RSCN Protected Areas Manager Othman Altawalbeh.
“The number of RSCN inspectors ranges from 80 to
90,” he said, adding: “Rangers and inspectors are exposed to many threats or
attacks while doing their work. For example, as they go out on tours to protect
their work areas, they may be subjected to physical or verbal abuse by
lumberjacks, or hunters. Sometimes they are shot at or attacked with white
weapons.”
Jordanian law protects employees during their work
in the event of any assault, he said, adding that “as soon as the perpetrators
are arrested, legal measures are taken against them”.
At the same time, “citizen’s awareness is very
important, and is an integral part of maintaining security and reducing crimes
and attacks”, he stressed.
It is important to partner with the Environmental
Police during inspection tours, “to secure the necessary protection for
rangers, especially in dangerous places, like, in the Anjara and
Ajloun regions, where there are dangerous gangs, and people with criminal records”,
said Altawalbeh.
With forests and green spaces declining — the forest
areas are currently less than 1 percent of the total area of Jordan — and
climate change affecting the forest wealth and plant diversity in Jordan in a
negative way, he stressed the need to protect green spaces through “intensified
efforts among the responsible authorities, with a focus on citizen awareness of
their importance”.
The entire Forestry Directorate personnel ranges
between 1,000 and 1,200; 600–700 of them are rangers, distributed in all governorates,
covering almost one million dunums of forest areas, said Khaled Al-Qudah,
director of the Forestry Directorate.
The Ministry of Agriculture tried to recruit more
rangers, but with the advent of COVID-19, “the process was stopped, and so far,
no new rangers have been appointed”.
When rangers are attacked, an official complaint is
submitted to the administrative governor or the judge in the region to take the
necessary measures against the aggressor, Qudah said.
In some cases, conciliation happens in an amicably
way, but these are few, he stressed.
The patrols activities are monitored by the Forestry
Directorate three times a day via the wireless device and GPS.
“There is continuous cooperation between us and the
Environmental Police, so that we move at a close pace in protecting the
forests,” Qudah said, adding that Forestry Directorate and Environmental Police
patrols carry out tours together if necessary.
Rangers are supervised to ensure a better workflow
and that they do not make any mistakes, he said, adding that “periodic
motivational and awareness meetings are being held for them”.
“Jordan’s forests are scattered and intertwined with
villages, cities, and residential neighborhoods, and we are providing the
elements of sustainability, from water and protection,” he said, stressing that
protection “does not fall only on the Ministry of Agriculture, it is a societal
responsibility in which everyone participates, from government and military
institutions, civil bodies and associations, to the citizen, in the first
place,” on whose awareness “we always count”.
He added: “The RSCN inspectors are specialized in
protecting some areas affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, which is
managed by the RSCN, and they control violations related to hunting and the
like. In the event of harm to forest wealth, the society’s inspectors
coordinate with the special rangers of the Forestry Directorate and heads of
departments in the field.”
Mohammad Asfour, an environment expert and chairman
of Wadi NGO, told
Jordan News: “The Forestry Directorate should be
empowered more, and its capacities should be improved”.
Amending laws to ensure a better protection of green
spaces is also needed, he said.
“We hear about a lot of attacks on rangers, and they
need more protection because they are on the front line in preserving the
forests,” Asfour said.
He also stressed the importance of training
Environmental Police personnel on issues related to the protection of forests
and the environment.
“Forests and green spaces suffer from many
violations, ranging from overgrazing, that does not allow the natural ecosystem
to reconfigure itself, to unplanned and random urban expansion,” he said.
“Innovating new and nature-based solutions when
solving problems is important, as they enable us to deal with the environment
in a better way and improve green spaces,” Asfour said.
Awareness of communities surrounding forests is very
important, as they are an integral part of solutions to preserve green spaces
in Jordan, he stressed.
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