Jordan and the Nagoya Protocol
Jordan signed the Nagoya Protocol the tenth of January 2012. The instrument for ratification was accepted twelve October 2014 when the Protocol came into force. The Section Nagoya Protocol gives more information on the implementation of the Protocol.
Forests
Jordan has limited forest resources with less than 1.5% of the country being classified as forests. Of this forest land, only 26% have forest cover with a canopy density of 10% or more and the rest is mostly composed of land sparsely covered with vegetation. The forests in Jordan, especially natural forests, are fragmented, open in density, slow growing, of degraded conditions and, thus, of low commercial value. Commercial forests are only expected in areas receiving more than 400 mm of precipitation annually. Such lands constitute only 9% of the total forestlands. Afforestation activities can be implemented in areas receiving more than 250 mm/year which constitute 8.3% of the total forestland.
The forest vegetation in Jordan can be divided into the following categories:
- Natural forests that are composed of evergreen shrubs, pine and juniper forest as well as broadleaf forests.
- Artificial or man-made forests, areas are afforested artificially by the Forestry Department since the 1950s. The afforested areas are found in all registered forest land in Jordan. They are planted mostly with Pinus halepensis and Acacia saligna. The survival rate varies from 0 to 75 %.
- Bare forest lands, areas registered as forest land in the name of the government treasury but being presently bare of forest cover. They are characterized by rough topography, poor site conditions, soil erosion hazards, over grazing or over harvesting.
- Unsettled forest areas, areas covered completely or partially by forest trees, but still un-surveyed or unregistered. The total area of unregistered forest area is estimated at 12,200 ha. These areas are in principle governmental land at the disposition of the forestry administration.
- Roadside plantations cover about 2,500 km of roadsides. Trees planted along the roads belong to the government and are managed by the Forestry Department. All these are government forests either registered in the name of the Jordan Government Treasury as forestland or declared as forestland according to the 1973 Agricultural Law no. 20 and to the 1974 Government property owned management Law no. 17.
- Private forests are registered in the name of their private owners and are found mostly in the northern part of Jordan where higher rainfall is prevailing. They include natural forest vegetation and tree plantations on farms, in the form of windbreaks and shelter-belts. Private forests account for less than 4 % of the total declared forestland.