AMMAN — Jordan has partnered with Saudi Arabia in to
implement an ambitious environmental project dubbed the “Green Middle East
Initiative,” with an expert saying that the Jordanian experience in the field
can be highly significant and conducive bringing the project to fruition.
اضافة اعلان
The issue was at the heart of a phone conversation on Monday
between His Majesty King Abdallah and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The two leaders notably discussed Jordan’s participation in the Saudi-led
initiative, which was announced earlier this week by the crown prince.
The Green Middle East Initiative is a regional environmental
initiative that aims to reduce carbon emissions by 60 percent, restore 200
million hectares of degraded land and plant 50 billion trees across the Middle
East region (including 10 billion in Saudi Arabia). If carried out
successfully, it would represent the biggest afforestation project worldwide.
Growing environmental concerns in the Middle East
This announcement may have come as a surprise for
international environmental observers, in light of Saudi Arabia’s perceived
reluctance to enter multilateral environmental agreements. In 2015, critics
accused the Saudi kingdom of stalling the Paris COP21 on climate change by
refusing to set ambitious targets to limit carbon emissions.
However, six years later Saudi Arabia and its neighbors are
geared up to find solutions to emerging ecological challenges in their region.
An estimated 70 to 90 percent of land in the Arabian Peninsula is already
threatened by desertification, according to the United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recognizes the importance of
protecting the environment, combating climate change, and facing environmental
challenges in the region,” Saudi Ambassador in Jordan Naif Bin Bandar
Al-Sudairi told Jordan News.
No details were revealed on Jordan’s participation in the
initiative, but in light of the Kingdom’s past experiences and knowhow, it can
be of great help, according to Yehya Khaled, the Director General of the Royal
Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN).
“It is too early to see what the initiative will look like
for Jordan at this stage,” told Jordan News. However, “Jordan, in comparison to
the region, has advanced programs in forestation, protected areas management
and renewable energy — the three main components of the initiative” according
to what we know of it, Khaled said.
Earlier this month, Jordan launched a large reforestation
initiative aiming to plant 10 million trees over a period of 10 years. Wild
forests only cover 1 percent of the Kingdom’s territory according to RSCN
(excluding orchards).
Indigenous forests provide important ecosystem services and
host biodiversity. Yet they are threatened by illegal wood logging and forest
fires, which impacted the north of Jordan last summer.
“Afforestation is very important for Jordan,” highlighted
Khaled. “We try to push for planting local species. We do not want to plant
exotic species that can create ecological damage.”
On the global scale, the [initiative] pursues the stated
objective of contributing to the global carbon offsetting program. “[The
initiative] will restore an area equivalent to 200 million hectares of degraded
land, representing 5 percent of the global target of planting 1 trillion trees
and reducing 2.5 percent of global carbon levels,” Al-Sudairi added.
Challenges remain
The Green Middle East initiative is reminiscent of another ambitious
afforestation project: the Great Green
Wall. Launched in 2007 by the African Union, the project aims to “restore 100
million hectares of currently degraded land” by 2030 and grow a green belt
spanning 8,000 kilometers across Africa. However, by 2020 only 4 percent of the
project was completed, more than halfway into the project timeline.
Like the Sahel region, the Middle East faces many challenges
that could affect the feasibility of the project in the long-run, including
limited water resources, a volatile security situation in several countries of
the region, and fluctuating diplomatic relations between the potential partner
states of the project.
“I think that water scarcity is the most important
challenge,” Khaled added. “It is not just about planting the trees, but about
maintaining them as well.”
“We are fully aware of the challenges facing the region from
the scarcity of water, financial and technical resources and geographic
difficulties,” Sudairi asserted. “Therefore, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will
work in partnership with countries of the region to discuss mechanisms and
opportunities for financing initiatives for countries with low resources.”
Despite challenges, the initiative represents an opportunity
for Jordan to demonstrate environmental leadership, building on its existing
expertise. For example, “The RSCN has advanced experience in the region with
protected areas management,” Khaled stressed. “We hope that [through this
initiative] we can contribute to the expansion of protected areas in Jordan and
in the region.”
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