Preserving heat-adapted seeds to feed a warming world
MONGABAY (20/9/2022) Sitting cross-legged in the summer sun, Fatima collects seedpods from fava beans in Terbol, a quiet village surrounded by cypress trees and vineyards in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. “It’s my first day here,” she says as she smiles shyly, glancing over the hills she had to cross with her family to flee […]
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In Jordan, a quest for the country’s resilient national flower
WASHINGTON POST (22/4/2022) Sitting beneath the branches of an ancient oak on a windswept hill in Jordan’s highlands during the first week of spring, I’m surrounded by a dazzling array of wildflowers. Purple anemones, red poppies, pink cyclamen, yellow and orange daisies. But one elegant flower stands out in the midst of all the bright […]
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Calls for Middle East food sovereignty amid looming wheat crisis
MIDDLE EAST EYE (19/3/2022) Concerns are growing across the Middle East that the war in Ukraine will cut off international shipments of wheat, spurring shortages and soaring prices of a staple food millions of people rely heavily upon. Russia and Ukraine produce about a quarter of the world’s wheat. The MENA region is particularly dependent on wheat […]
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Jordan scrambles to save rare Red Sea corals
MONGABAY (14/2/2022) Dozens of tiny, dazzlingly colorful fish swim around a maze of layer upon layer of corals. When divers approach, they hide near a dome-shaped colony. In the clear, warm waters of Aqaba, clownfish, butterflyfish and angelfish swim next to a military tank deliberately sunk in the 1990s, now one of several wrecks that […]
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Jordan’s grassroot movement for food sovereignty
AL JAZEERA (7/2/2022) Carrying sickles, a group of Jordanians gather to harvest a wheat field that spreads around Amman’s City Mall. Logos of international supermarkets and franchises tower above the golden wheat, as dozens of people reap a crop that for thousands of years has been cultivated in the region. This collective harvest last summer […]
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Could Aqaba’s heat-resilient corals help restore the world’s dying reefs?
DEUTSCHE WELLE (17/1/2022) Beneath the warm, crystal-clear waters of the Gulf of Aqaba at the northern tip of the Red Sea, lies a bustling city of colorful corals. At sunrise, fish emerge from their coral shelters, joining eels, turtles and octopuses to swim through these teeming waters. This vibrant scene is untouched by the mass […]
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How micro-forests are bringing nature back to Jordan’s cities
THE NATIONAL (15/12/2021) Asphalt and concrete spread across the densely-populated eastern neighbourhoods of Amman. Only a few trees dot a dry, dusty park tucked away in the suburb of Marka. But over the last year, the local park has been receiving unusual visitors. “We are seeing a lot of bees, butterflies, many different birds,” says […]
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Planned copper mine raises fears for biodiversity hotspot in Jordan
MONGABAY 9/11/2021 Rugged hills frame a valley surrounded by evergreen oak, pistachio and pine trees in the village of Dana, where stone houses built centuries ago perch on the edge of a canyon that blends into the natural surroundings. At a crossroads between Europe, Africa and Asia, the Dana Biosphere Reserve is home to Jordan’s […]
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Desert green: Jordanians on frontline of climate change turn to permaculture
MIDDLE EAST EYE (23/3/2019) Olive, lemon and palm trees provide shade over the small garden where Abu ElHajj recently started growing carrots, tomatoes, beans and herbs. Surrounded by arid cliffs and a harsh desert landscape, it seems an unlikely place to start cultivating food. Facing drought and rising temperatures, Jordan is on the frontline of climate change. Overgrazing […]
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War is hell for animals too: In Jordan, bears, lions and tigers have found a sanctuary
MIDDLE EAST EYE (20/12/2018) Animals rescued from Aleppo, Mosul and Gaza have found new lives in a peaceful sanctuary surrounded by mountains north of Amman When he was eight years old, Loz was evacuated from Aleppo. It was July 2017, seven months after Syria’s second-largest city finally fell to the forces of Bashar al-Assad’s government. […]
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