This pictorial encyclopedia of Jordan’s wildlife habitats, parks and reserves, canyons, and deserts is an essential companion for kingdom sightseeing, its compact size makes it perfect for tucking into a backpack or pocket.

I’d picked up a dog-eared copy from a Dublin charity shop right before moving to Amman. The little guidebook is packed with useful information about Jordan’s animals and plants, archaeological treasures, and fascinating geological history.

Two years later, I decided to treat myself to a new copy, and in the process, got to “meet” the author via the magic of email. Here’s my exchange with writer Jarir Maani.

Green Prophet: Who came up with the idea for the Guide?

The book is a collaborative effort between myself and good number of contributors.  Photographs and illustrations are by Mohd Maani, Habeeb Maani, Jarir Maani, Anees Maani, Karma Hijawi, Sulafa Maani, Gudrun Kroner, Aram Khlief, Nafila Maani, Majd Hadad, Leen Maani, and others.

GP: What was your motivation?

The book’s three main objectives are to showcase Jordan’s little known treasures; raise awareness and appreciation for wildlife; and highlight the human impact and urgency of environmental issues.

GP: There’s a “donate” tab on your website that seems a brilliant way to get the Guide into the hands of school children.  How successful has that effort been?

Unfortunately, this feature hasn’t been successful, and most of the donated books were actually purchased by the people that worked on the book. Although government agencies and private companies in Jordan supported creation of the guide, efforts to raise funds to donate additional books to needy children didn’t produce any meaningful result.

GP: Anything particular that you’d like broadcast about the Guide and your work?

The book has a sister app for the iPhone/iPad platform called Animals of Jordan that allows you to access this information anywhere.

We would like to develop similar projects for the entire Arab world, but the lack of financial backing and sustained support for educational and environmental projects limits what we can do. Having said that, we’re still hopeful and poised to tackle similar projects whenever conditions improve.

+ + + + + + +

The book, which is in its second edition (with over 45 pages of new content), is available in both Arabic and English and is sold in most Jordan bookshops and also online.  There is also a Facebook page with the same name that reinforces the author’s environmental message.

Tony Howard & Di Taylor, authors of Treks & Climbs in Wadi Rum and Jordan, said the guide is, “Detailed and thorough with good photos, nice-to-see geology and archaeology included as well as environment, the latter being particularly important – Jordan needs more people who care.”

For more information on the “Field Guide to Jordan”, visit the website (link here). 

All images courtesy of Jarir Maani

The post Jarir Maani’s Field Guide to Jordan is Essential Trekking Gear (Interview) appeared first on Green Prophet.

A new campaign attempts to stop a hunting deal in Tanzania forcing 48,000 members of Africa’s Maasai tribe off their land so Middle Eastern royalty can hunt lions and leopards in the Serengeti

The Middle East’s love affair with wild animals has hit the headlines again. No, there haven’t been sightings of cheetahs on the streets of Dubai or dead wolves and owls on parade, rather Middle Eastern royals are being accused of aiding a massive sell-off of the Serengeti. And in a new twist to the land-grab meme, this land sell-off is not to secure access to precious food supplies but, rather, to indulge in the hunting whims of the Middle East’s elite.

The campaigning group Avaaz has launched a online petition to ask Tanzania’s President Kikwete to reject the hunting corporation’s big deal and stop the sell-off of the Serengeti.

“The last time this same corporation pushed the Maasai off their land to make way for rich hunters, people were beaten by the police, their homes were burnt to a cinder and their livestock died of starvation” explains Avaaz via email to Green Prophet.

“But when a press controversy followed, Tanzanian President Kikwete reversed course and returned the Maasai to their land. This time, there hasn’t been a big press controversy yet, but we can change that and force Kikwete to stop the deal if we join our voices now.”

Oxfam, an international charity, also reported on the eviction which took place in July 2009 in Tanzania leaving nearly 2,000 people homeless. They aded that “two of the most infamous land conflicts are with Emirates hunting company Ortello Business Corporation and American-owned Thomson Safaris Ltd.”

As of August 13, more than 400,000 people had signed the petition in just 24 hours and Avaaz reported that President Kikwete’s inner circle was starting to react: “ a few hours ago, the President’s close confidante, Mr. January Makamba MP, tweeted saying he would send our voices to the President himself. Keep up the pressure by signing now and forwarding to others.”

The Maasai are semi-nomadic herders who have lived in Tanzania and Kenya for centuries, playing a critical role in preserving the delicate ecosystem and wildlife of the Serengeti. As such, a deal to evict the Maasai to make way for rich foreign hunters is as bad for wildlife as it is for the communities it would destroy.

For more on wild animals in the Middle East see:

Dubai Porsche Driver Walks Pet Cheetah on a Leash

Africa’s Most Dangerous Animal to Greet Eid Visitors at Gulf Zoo

Gulf Country completely Bans Ownership of Wild Animals

The post Emirati Royalty Threaten 48,000 Maasai in Lucrative Hunting Deal appeared first on Green Prophet.

 ‘Z’ is an anonymous cartoonist whose pink flamingo trademark came about due to his efforts to stop development projects which would destroy the bird’s natural habitat

By day an architect and by night a bitingly critical cartoonist, ‘Z’ is a force to be reckoned with. His criticism of the previous Tunisian dictator Ben Ali meant he preferred to remain anonymous. And his continued criticism of the Tunisian government means that he will be ‘keeping his mask on’ for now. However, what appears to have inspired this architect-turned-cartoonist is the destructive force of development in the country which threatened the habitat of pink flamingoes. Z gave a rare interview to Samar Media about his work, the Arab Spring and why the pink flamingo became his mascot.

“My very first cartoons always featured pink flamingos. It has been my blog’s mascot until now,” says Z to Samar Media, which has produced a series on revolutionary cartoonist from the Arab world.

“Why pink flamingos? Because when I started drawing in 2008, there were projects in Tunisia that were supposed to be funded by Emiratis. Billions and billion of (touristic) projects were going to concrete the whole lake of Tunis… and I tried to raise awareness among the people about the environmental hazards of such a project, and the fact that there had been no consultation with the local residents.”

Sadly, this is a familiar story that appears to be affecting the entire Arab region. However, it is great to see a cartoonist taking an active interest in the environmentally harmful aspects of the boom-development projects. These projects so often end up being championed as job creating opportunities with very little attention paid to the long-term and environmental harmful aspects of the projects.

Z goes on to explain that what drew him to the story was that the age-old ecosystem which was under serious threat was to be taken by Ben Ali and his relatives. As such the situation had a particularly political slant and was a way for him to protest against the Tunisian regime and the extraordinary powers it held.

“You see here a protest of pink flamingos – they represent the oppressed citizens,” he explains to Samar Media. “The drawing was a trick to raise awareness among people about the dangers of the project and to talk about politics without directly mentioning the regime.”

:Hat tip to @arablit/ Arab Literature (in English)

:: All images via DebaTunisie.

For more on Tunisia and destructive development see:

Catch Up With Green Prophet in Tunisia

Saudi’s Mecca Becoming a Holy Sprawl

World’s Largest Artificial Lagoon Nears Completion In Egypt

Sinai’s Ecological Future Hangs in the Balance

The post Z: The Anonymous Tunisian Cartoonist Championing Nature appeared first on Green Prophet.

In the first part of this two-piece feature, Azzam Alwash the director of Nature Iraq, spoke to us about his warm memories as a child visiting the Mesopotamian Marshlands of Iraq with his father; the shock he faced when he returned to Iraq from America in 2003 to find the marshes completely decimated under Saddam’s regime and his vow to help restore the wetlands to their former glory.

Despite a shaky start to the restoration of the marshlands due to two years of drought and dwindling water supplies, the marshlands (which are home to a wide range of wildlife such as water buffalos, foxes and rare birds) are on the mend. And a new generation of Iraqi environmentalists as well as the Marsh Arabs  have played their part in restoring a global ecosystem which has existed for over 7,000 years.

A New Generation of Iraqi Environmentalists

“Soon after arriving in Iraq I realized that the devastation [to the marshes] was all the way up stream with most cities dumping raw sewage and industrial waste directly into the water of the Tigris and Euphrates – in other words, Iraq is using the Tigris and Euphrates as open sewers!”

Indeed, Alwash states that part of the aim of setting up Nature Iraq was to help educate a new generation of Iraqis about the importance of protecting the environment be they mountains or marshes. “It was vital that I take under my wing young Iraqis and train them… I am glad to report to you that I am about to hand over the day to day operations of Nature Iraq to the next generation of environmental activists.” As well as the difficulties they face in restoring the marshes, those who work in region face very real security threats. Many don’t venture into the marshes without an armed security guard. This may seem a step too far but a dozen employees of the project have died in terrorist attacks in the last seven years alone.

Half Way Through An Impossible Task

When I ask Alwash what motivates him to continue his work through droughts, dangers to his life and other difficulties, he replies that in all honesty he is not sure how to answer that question. “Coming to Iraq has had a huge tax on me personally and professionally, regardless of the recognition that Nature Iraq has gotten over the years. It is my ardent desire to see my children enjoy the marshes as I did, but that is not enough to explain my personal motivation… I suppose in a sense the impossibility of the task is what motivates me.

“In 2002/03 people were saying that the marshes cannot be restored, nor do the people of the marshes want them restored yet the evidence on the ground countered those claims and 8 years later we have the marshes back (albeit only 50% of the marshes) and some 100,000 people have come back.” Wildlife is flourishing in the marshlands again, reeds are shooting up and the Basra Reed Warbler and the Greater Flamingo can now been seen flying across the marshland. The Marsh Arabs that are returning to their homes in the marshes are also playing an important role in the recovery of this precious ecosystem.

A Future For The Marsh Arabs

As Alwash insists, “Marsh Arabs restored the marshes and not Azzam Alwash. My job is limited to helping them come up with solutions to their problems… As for what the Marsh Arabs want, well they want TV’s, electricity, schools and hospitals and mobile phones and there is no reason why these can not be provided in a manner that is sensitive to the environment.” In fact, one of Nature Iraq’s projects combines two traditional ways of life- the agricultural mud house with the reed arches of the Marsh Arab huts- to create a stunning and sustainable mud house that comes with modern conveniences such as electricity, indoor plumbing, internet services and connectivity to the rest of the world.

Even so, Alwash admits that brick houses remain the status symbol of ‘success’ in the region and so it will take time for these concepts to take root. However, Alwash remains optimistic (he did achieve the impossible after all) that as soon as people recognize that the new methods are more suited to their environment they will embrace them. As he adds with a smile, “I plan to move permanently to my mud house in the coming year to live and to preach…”

: Images via Nature Iraq.

For more on nature in Iraq see:

“The Garden Of Eden Had Been Turned Into The Ashes Of Hell”- Azzam Alwash On The Destruction Of The Marshes Of Iraq

Restoring Iraq’s ‘Garden of Eden’- The Mesopotamian Marshlands

Iraqi Sheikh Threatens To Demonstrate If Kurds Don’t Share Water

A Profile of Iraq’s Environmental Woes

The post The Marsh Arabs Who Restored A Global Ecosystem appeared first on Green Prophet.

Travelling through the Mesopotamian Marshlands of Iraq on a boat with his father, Azzam Alwash felt he had glimpsed a garden of Eden- a land of abundance, peace and natural beauty. “In my childs’ mind eyes, the reeds were like forests with ‘trees’ extending to the sky and pathways made of small canals in which our boat floated. Every now and then we came to an open space through which air blew, cooling us down,” he recalls. “The sounds of frogs were all around us and the water was so clean you could see the fish scramming away from our boat. Birds would fill the sky when we disturbed them.”

Whilst Alwash’s memories of the time he spent as a young boy with his father in the marshes stayed with him, the marshes faced a rather brutal fate. In reprisal to the Marsh Arabs support of an uprising against the Saddam regime, in the 1980s the marshlands were drained of their water and life withered away.

Alwash was lucky enough to escape the turmoil of Iraq under Saddam to America where he trained as a hydraulic engineer, yet those early memories of the Marshlands never left him and when he returned 25 years later, he vowed to help restore that Garden of Eden. In 2004, he setup Nature Iraq, the country’s first and only environmental organisation with the aim of restoring the Marshlands- a task many believed would be impossible.

A Rich Ecosystem of Rare wildlife and Plants

Stretching over 6,000 square miles, the Iraqi Marshland have played an important role in global ecosystems by supporting rare wildlife and rich biodiversity for over 7,000 years. The marshlands were home to birds such as the night heron, pied kingfisher, little grebes and marbled ducks as well animals such as wild boars, water buffaloes, foxes, otters and water snakes. It was a veritable verdant paradise of water and life in the middle of desert in which Marsh Arabs lived in reed huts and hunted in wooden boats.

Yet in the 1980s, the marshlands were drained by Saddam’s forces in retaliation of the Marsh Arabs support for an uprising against him. “The destruction of the marshes was sold by the regime of Saddam under the auspices of making more land available for agriculture (as if Iraq suddenly ran out of land) when in fact he was trying to deprive his opposition of a base of operations,” explains Alwash.

“The worst engineered environmental disaster of the last century”- UNEP

The United Nations environmental program described Saddam’s destruction of the Mesopotamian Marshlands as the worst engineered environmental disaster of the last century. Thousands of Marsh Arabs were killed, their reed huts were burnt down and water sources were poisoned to drive them out until half a million of Marsh Arabs were displaced either into Iran or North Iraq. Once considered to be the largest wetland ecosystem in the Middle East, the Marshlands shrunk to just 10 percent of their original size.

After a 25-year absence, Alwash decided to travel to Iraq in the summer of 2003 to visit the marshes. Although he was aware of the destruction wreaked on the marshlands under Saddam’s regime since 1994, he admits that he was still deeply shocked by what he saw. “The site of destroyed marsh areas were like a physical blow to me, the Garden of Eden that I had in mind was replaced by arid, dry, dead lands that extended to the horizon. The islands that once supported families now contained nothing but destroyed homes. The Garden of Eden had been turned into the ashes of hell.”

War And Water Shortages- The Marshes Begin To Recover

Even so, there were already signs of recovery when Alwash arrived. “Even before Baghdad fell, the people had started breaching dykes and disabling pumping stations that were used to prevent water from going into the marshes and to drain water, respectively. Nature is amazing. By March 2004, areas of the marshes had begun recovering to the point where they resembled the conditions of the past. Yet it was haphazard and not uniform. The natural flow pattern had been disrupted and the hydro pulse that was driven by the natural floods had stopped as a result of the dams built upstream in Turkey and Iran.”

The recovery of the Marshlands took another hit in the drought years of 2008 and 2010 when the restored marshes shrunk from 65% of their original size to around 35%. Now, however, the marshes are back on the right track and Azzam Alwash states that they are now at the half way point to full recovery. Water scarcity, however, remains a huge problem especially as the Mesopotamian Marshlands are part of the Tigris-Euphrates river basin shared by Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

“The limited amount of fresh water available now is expected to be even less in the future as development upstream occurs and the population increases. The problem is both political in a sense as the sharing of water requires policies that make sure that the marshes get their fair share of the fresh water.”

Alwash points out that an agreement between Iraq, Turkey and Syria is the solution alongside efforts to improve agricultural irrigation techniques in Iraq to stop water resources being wasted. Furthermore, efforts need to be made to prevent waste and drainage water being dumped into the Tigris-Euphrates which the marshlands depend on. Without these changes any efforts to restore the marshlands would be futile as without water and clean rivers, they would simply dry up and wildlife would be unable to flourish.

Continue here with part-two of this feature where Azzam Alwash talks about the emergence of a new generation of Iraqi environmentalists, the real dangers of working under conflict and the role the Marsh Arabs have played in the restoration of the Marshlands.

Images via Nature Iraq.

For more on nature in Iraq see:
Restoring Iraq’s ‘Garden of Eden’- The Mesopotamian Marshlands
Iraqi Sheikh Threatens To Demonstrate If Kurds Don’t Share Water
A Profile of Iraq’s Environmental Woes

The post “The Garden of Eden Had Been Turned Into The Ashes of Hell”- Azzam Alwash On The Destruction Of The Marshlands of Iraq appeared first on Green Prophet.