Under the patronage of the Jordanian Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Environment H.E Eng. Ibrahim Al-Shahahda, the workshop of the Sound Ecosystems Project for Rangeland Development" HERD was launched on Wednesday, 6/3/2019, at the Holiday Inn Hotel, in Amman, Jordan.

 H.E Eng. Al-Shahahda briefed the participants on the Ministry's efforts in rehabilitating pastures in the Badia of Jordan, pointing out that through the Environmental Compensation Program, two field units were being established to rehabilitate and sustainably manage rangelands in the Central and Southern Badia in order to protect biodiversity and improve the quality of the Jordanian environment for conservation and sustainability of natural resources. . His Excellency also called for the establishment of productive projects that citizens feel they are positively reflected on the economic and social reality in the Jordanian Badia and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development.

The Regional Director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) H.E Dr. Hani Al Shaer, said that the Project for the Development of Ecosystems in Pasture was aimed at promoting the rehabilitation and sustainable management of rangeland operations to provide ecosystem services in Jordan and Egypt, where the most environmental challenges, which necessitated the creation of the best interventions, policies and strategies to address them and reduce their impact.

This project is considered as the first implementation of the Global Sustainable Grazing Initiative to achieve the optimal balance between the protection of natural systems to meet the developmental needs of pastoral communities. The project will provide an avenue for strengthening channels of communication between local communities and government agencies in the sustainable management of rangeland to share experiences in the target areas through participatory planning in rangeland management in Jordan.

 It is worth mentioning that the Director General of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development H.E Prof. Ibrahim Adam El Dukheri met H.E Dr. Hani Al-Shaer, at the Union's headquarters in Amman on Sunday, 17/2/2019. Both sides discussed the implementation of the projects that serve the region and contribute to the adverse environmental impacts of the climate change.

Both sides also agreed to cooperate in the implementation of the " Sound Ecosystems Project for Rangeland Development " project which is implemented by AOAD with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and coordinated with the Environment, Housing and Resources Department Water at the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States and the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) and funded by the Global Environment Facility.