AMMAN — On July 13, the forests of Wadi Al-Sham, near the
village of Al-Husayniyat in the Jerash governate, and some private plots of
land were subjected to a fire that consumed large tracts of forests,
fruit trees, and crops of citizens due to individuals intending to trade in the newly
dried and burned wood, here is what experts have to say about the fires.
اضافة اعلان
Civil defense and agricultural teams in
Ajloun Governorate have dealt with approximately 300 fires since the beginning of the current
year, which have affected more than 1,000 dunams of owned and forestry lands,
resulting in the burning of thousands of fruit trees,
forest trees, and dry
grass, Ad-Dustour reported.
Mohammad Khattatbah, the head of the
Environmental Society in the Kofranjeh District, stated that this wealth is constantly subjected to
organized attacks by professional gangs that employ various methods. He called
on the government to employ all necessary resources, combat those who attack
the trees and stated that they are known individuals to the concerned
authorities.
Environmental concerns
The forest wealth in
Ajloun covers an area of 142,000 dunams
(34 percent of the governorate's area), constituting the
largest vegetation cover in the Kingdom.
Trees in the governorates of
Ajloun and Jerash, especially
rare trees such as pine, oak, sandalwood, and acacia, are frequently exposed to
fires and illegal cutting by individuals for the purpose of trading. As a
result, they have become threatened with extinction.
Meanwhile, Lina Al-Alawneh, an activist and counseling
leader, stated that cutting down trees is a crime against future generations'
right to live in a clean environment surrounded by lush trees. She emphasized
that tree planting is a collective national responsibility, a symbol of
awareness, progress, and environmental necessity. Protecting forests and trees
is a national duty that requires collaboration between official and
non-governmental entities to preserve them.
Arab Al-Sammad, the former deputy and president of the
Ajloun Chamber of Commerce, said that forest fires pose a serious threat to
forest wealth and biodiversity, emphasizing the importance of taking
pre-emptive measures to prevent fires that cause damage to trees, especially
the ancient ones.
Required changes
According to civil defense sources, the lack of access roads
between the forests to enable
firefighting teams and vehicles has exacerbated
the problem, despite the constant calls to rectify this. In the fire this
weekend many locals were recruited to assist in putting out the fire due to the
difficulties of accessing the area and delivering resources.
These sources also emphasize the necessity of expanding
forest pruning works in the governorate, allowing for the growth of grasses
among the trees.
Environmental expert Engineer Khaled Ananzah stated that the
current state of our forest wealth confirms the lack of clear and defined
policies and broad steps to preserve forests and pastures.
He also mentioned the need for current legislation to be
more deterrent and suitable for modern forest resource management. Saying that
the workers in this field are deprived of incentives and undertrained. Also,
the financial allocations are insufficient to meet the necessary requirements
for forest resource management and the lack of forest and pastoral research and
guidance.
He stressed the necessity of increasing the number of
forestry workers and protection staff in the
Ajloun Department of Agriculture
to reach 100 protection workers and inspectors in the to monitor vast forest
areas.
Community activist Ali Youssef Al-Moumani called
for adequate protection through field teams, the implementation of laws and
regulations that protect forest resources, the application of agriculture laws,
increased establishment of forestry stations to prevent encroachments, and
their strategic positioning in high and supervisory areas within forests.
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