From the Royal Botanic Garden - an exciting new project that aims to preserve and promote Jordan’s natural habitats. It was great to see conservation in action and to explore an area of rolling hills and native vegetation.

Founded by Her Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Ali, the Royal Botanic Garden will be a center for public education, scientific research, and conservation efforts. While it isn’t yet open to the public, Princess Basma gave us a tour of the area the gardens will encompass. Over the course of the day, she explained why habitat preservation is so important, particularly in resource-poor areas like those found throughout Jordan and the Middle East.

We accompanied the princess on a short nature hike. Along the way she pointed out some of Jordan’s indigenous plants, like the almond tree. One of the project’s main goals is to reintroduce native species that have been pushed out of the area by invasive plants, like eucalyptus.

A second goal of the project is to reduce the strains put on the land by humans. Part of meeting this second goal will require limiting the amount of grazing. As Jordan’s population expands, so does the number of animals grazing on its land. As a result, most of the grass gets eaten up, and the land is barren and in pretty bad shape. The Royal Botanic Garden staff are trying to address this by working with local shepherds to limit the number of animals they put on the land.

For me, it was encouraging to see a large team of people come together to tackle the environmental problems in their area.

If you want to help conservation efforts, you’ve got to start in your own back yard by protecting the habitats closest to you. That’s just where Princess Basma and her team started.

Next: Take a dip in the Dead Sea.

Copyright © 2009 ProjectExplorer, LTD. All Rights Reserved.