Jordan Times
Tuesday, April 6, 2004
WESCANA regional office relocated to Jordan
By Ruba Saqr
Minister of Environment Alia Hattough-Bouran, Minister of Water and Irrigation
and acting Minister of Planning Hazem Nasser and IUCN Director General Achim
Steiner at the openng of the fifth IUCN Regional Conservation Forum on Monday
(Petra photo)
AMMAN — The World Conservation Union (IUCN), one of the largest international
environmental protection groups, announced on Monday plans to move the location
of its regional office for the West and Central Asia and North Africa (WESCANA)
region to Jordan.
During the opening ceremony of the fifth IUCN Regional Conservation Forum
yesterday, Minister of Environment Alia Hattough-Bouran and IUCN Director
General Achim Steiner signed an agreement to launch the new office, slated to
open in the next few months.
The office is designed to develop water projects and advocate sustainable
development schemes that aim at supporting local communities in the Kingdom as
well as the region.
Bouran said the agreement marks a “pivotal development” in the WESCANA programme
with the relocation of its regional office from IUCN headquarters in Switzerland
to Amman.
Minister of Water and Irrigation and Acting Minister of Planning Hazem Nasser,
who was also one of the signatories, said the government would provide financial
and technical support to the office for the next five years.
The minister said the IUCN selected Jordan, which was considered as a
drought-stricken country in late 1990s, as host country, for its effective
water-rationing policies and serious efforts throughout the past years to
overcome its water problems.
“Despite the fact that Jordan is one of the world's 10 poorest countries in
terms of water resources, we have managed to spread awareness about the
importance of water conservation to 99 per cent of the population,” Nasser told
the environmental community taking part in the meeting.
The forum, which runs through Wednesday, is held to strengthen knowledge and
networking for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the
WESCANA region.
While this event is on the regional level, in 2000 Jordan hosted an
international IUCN congress, which was the largest environmental gathering ever
held in the Middle East. The summit, held every four years, is expected to
convene in Bangkok in November this year.