Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Water
Swim across one of the infinity pools in Aqaba surrounded by lush gardens and you may
not realise that Jordan has a chronic shortage of water. The facts are alarming. Relying
mainly on rainwater and subterranean aquifers that are already in many cases overexploited
(see the boxed text,
Click here
)
, Jordan is the 10th most water-impoverished country in the
world. With 90% of Jordan's rivers already being diverted, a population increasing by al-
most 3.5% annually and persistent droughts, this situation is likely to worsen rather than
improve. Currently, about 60% more water is used than is replenished from natural sources
and, by some estimates, the country is due to run out of water within 20 years.
Jordan is not alone in this problem. Water is a
hot political issue across the region, contributing
to several skirmishes over the years and con-
tinuing to spike relations between Jordan and its
neighbours. Since the 1960s, for example, Israel
and the Palestinian Territories has drawn around
one-third of its water from the Jordan River; this
river has now been reduced to a trickle, half of
which is 50% raw sewage and effluent from fish
farms. After the 1994 peace treaty, Israel and the Palestinian Territories permitted Jordan to
extract 50 million cu metres per year from Lake Tiberias, but disputes rumble on over
whether Jordan is getting its fair share.
Jordan has just 140 cu metres of renewable water
per capita per year, compared to the UK's 1500, Is-
rael's 340 and the Palestine Territories' 70. Jordan's
figure is expected to fall to 90 cu metres by 2025.
Anything under 500 cu metres is considered to be a
scarcity of water.
Hunting
Visit a nature reserve in Jordan and you'll see lots of information about elusive animals that
reside there, but the fact remains that a staggering 20 species of mammal have become ex-
tinct in Jordan in the past 100 years. Some were hunted and poached (especially after
WWII, when weapons flooded the region), spelling the end for Jordan's lion, cheetah, bear,
gazelle and wild ass. The last leopard was killed near Dana in 1986, although there have
been unsubstantiated sightings since.
The continuing threats to bird and animal species (24 out of Jordan's remaining 77 spe-
cies of mammals are globally threatened) include poor land management, such as deforest-
ation; the pumping of water from vital areas such as the Jordan River, Dead Sea and the
Azraq Wetlands with the associated consequences; urban sprawl; unremitting use of pesti-
cides, especially near water sources in the Jordan Valley; and air and water pollution.
