The Natural Environment - Jordan - page 586

THE LAND
At 91,860 sq km, Jordan is slightly smaller than Portugal or the US state of Virginia.
Distances are short - it's only 430km from Ramtha, on the Syrian border in the north, to
Aqaba in the south. TE Lawrence was pleased that he could cover Azraq to Amman in a
hard, three-day camel ride. Today you can travel by car from tip to toe in around six hours.
If you want to see anything, though, there's a lot to be said for the camel.
Jordan can be divided into three major regions: the Jordan Valley, the East Bank plateau
and the desert.

JORDAN'S BIODIVERSITY

» » Birds Jordan's location on the edge of the Great Rift Valley makes it an important migration route for birds. More
than half a million birds transit between Russia, Central Europe and Africa.
» » Animals A successful breeding program of the Nubian ibex by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature
(RSCN) began in Wadi Mujib Nature Reserve in 1989. Some have been reintroduced into the wild and the herds are
increasing.
» » Fish The Gulf of Aqaba, part of the Red Sea, sustains 230 species of coral and 1000 types of fish.
» » Plants Jordan boasts more than 2500 species of wild plants, including 20 species of orchid. Wildflowers of Jordan
& Neighbouring Countries by Dawud MH Al-Eisawi has useful photographs helpful in identification.

Jordan Valley Ecosystem
Jordan edges the Great Rift Valley, stretching from East Africa's lakes to southern Syria.
The rift was created as the Arabian plate pulled away from the African plate, a geological
event that gave rise to the Red Sea. Jordan's Wadi Araba, the Dead Sea and the Jordan Val-
ley lie on this fault line. Sit under the effervescent springs at Hammamat Ma'in and it's ob-
vious that this process of tectonic separation isn't yet complete.
Trickling through the northern part of the valley is the
lowest-lying river on earth, the River Jordan, fed from the Sea
of Galilee (Lake Tiberias), the Yarmouk River and hillside
streams. The permanent fresh water has given rise to a humid,
subtropical valley, highly fertile and intensively farmed.
Walking under the valley's flame and tamarisk trees you may see sunbirds and kingfish-
ers or an endangered otter heading for the reeds. What you won't see is the lion, bear, ele-
phant, rhino and herds of wild ass that Palaeolithic remains prove were once resident here.

Dead Sea