Jordan Times
Wednesday, December 23, 1998
UNDP, Jordan launch $1.5-million plan to preserve endangered agricultural species
By Ahmad Khatib
AMMAN — The government and the United Nations Development Programme on Tuesday
launched a programme to teach local farming communities to preserve endangered
agricultural species as part of efforts to boost the Kingdom's food security.
Planning Minister Nabil Ammari and UNDP Resident Representative Jorgen Lissner signed a deal under which both sides would cooperate to safeguard important fruit trees and other farm crops whose cultivation began 10,000 years ago, especially in the hilly town of Ajloun and in Muwaqqar, southeast of Amman.
Funded by a $1.5 million grant from the New York-based Global Environment Facility, established at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the project will specifically focus on preserving the genetic diversity of ten target crops of global significance in Levantine countries. These countries are among the world's major centres of plant diversity.
The five-year project, to be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, will apply on-site conservation techniques in which local communities will manage the endangered food crops on their farms.
The conservation project will also conduct surveys to document crop species that will eventually be placed in a gene bank and introduce policy reforms to promote conservation and sustainable use of significant food crops.
Known for their resistance to diseases, native crops and food plants of the Middle East are a valuable source of genetic material upon which the world's food security hinges.
Today, nearly one-third of the world's population depends on two major crops — wheat and barley — whose wild relatives are still found in the Middle East.
Many fruit trees, such as almond, olive and pistachio, have their roots in the Fertile Crescent, which comprises parts of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine.
However, over the years, many major crops in the region have been threatened by urbanisation, overgrazing, mismanagement of natural resources, diseases and overexploitation by populations.
As a result, wild families of crop species are growing on marginal land only, which, in turn, will make many species disappear, thus eroding their genetic diversity.
Today's agricultural production is based on fewer crops, making them vulnerable to disease, epidemics and harsh weather and, in turn, endangering food security.
Parallel conservation initiatives will be undertaken simultaneously in Lebanon, Syria and Palestinian territory, with the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas providing training and technical assistance on the regional scale.
The genetic preservation of historic fruit and plants is part of a series of GEF-funded UNDP projects to assist Jordan in meeting its obligations to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity.
Ratified by Jordan in 1992, the convention places priority on reducing threat to biodiversity by human activities, encouraging hands-on conservation techniques and involving local communities in protecting their environment.