Dibeen Forest Reserve is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

located in the north-west of

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. It is situated just south of the Roman site of

Jerash Jerash (; , , ) is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located 30.0 miles north of the capital city Amman. The earliest evidence of sett ...

and covers an area of of rolling hills covered with

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

–

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

habitat. This area houses the largest Aleppo Pines one of the oldest and naturally grown habitats in Jordan. It also is the home to 17 endangered species such as the

Persian Squirrel The Caucasian squirrel (''Sciurus anomalus'') or Persian squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' found in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in south-western Asia. The species is traditionally said to have first been described i ...

. The area was protected as a nature reserve in 2004 under the initiative of the

Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature The Royal Society for The Conservation of Nature (RSCN) (الجمعية الملكية لحماية الطبيعة) is an independent voluntary organization that is devoted to the conservation of the county of Jordan's natural resources; it was ...

Geology and climate

The forest is known as the driest places in the region and ranges over 60 km and is changing in altitude of 500m to 1000m above sea level. The rock within the reserve is a mixture of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and chalky limestone, which has been formed into steep slopes. The average rainfall is per year. Within the forest, there is a variety of moisture conditions, with

wadis Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet ( ephemeral) riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portions of alluvial fans and e ...

giving different regimes from those found on the steep slopes.

The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN)

The

(RSCN) is a voluntary organization that works to preserve the natural resources of

. It was established in 1966 under the patronage of Queen Noorr and the late

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal (14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hussein was traditionally considered a 40th-generati ...

as Honorary President. In 1966 their main focus was the decline in animal species due to illegal hunting in the area and the disregard to nature in Jordan. The small group of pioneers worked side by side with the government to make sure that wildlife was kept safe by creating ground rules and hunting laws. As a result, in 1973, the RSCN was given the right to issue hunting licenses and develop hunting patrols to regulate hunting laws in Jordan. Their work flourished and by 1995 they were the first to establish the first Jordanian Environmental Protection Law and an Environmental Police Unit in 2006. Throughout the years the RSNC has dutifully protected six areas around Jordan (1200 square meters). These areas include Shaumari,

Azraq Azraq ( meaning "blue") is a small town in Zarqa Governorate in central-eastern Jordan, east of Amman. The population of Azraq was 9,021 in 2004. The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base is located in Azraq. History Prehistory archaeology, Archaeologic ...

, Dana,

Wadi Mujib The Wadi Mujib (), also known as Arnon Stream (Hebrew: נַחַל ארנון), is a river in Jordan. The river empties into the Dead Sea circa below sea level. In ancient times, the river served as the northern boundary of the kingdom of Mo ...

Ajloun Ajloun (, ''‘Ajlūn''), also spelled Ajlun, is the capital town of the Ajloun Governorate, a hilly town in the north of Jordan, located 76 kilometers (around 47 miles) north west of Amman. It is noted for its impressive ruins of the 12th-centur ...

, and Dibeen. On 17 May 2016,

The Jordan Times ''The Jordan Times'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Amman, Jordan. History Established in 1975, ''The Jordan Times'' is owned by the Jordan Press Foundation, a shareholding company which also runs the Arabic-language daily '' A ...

wrote an article on the RSCN's celebration of its golden jubilee.

Flora

The forest reserve contains one of the last remaining examples of a pine–oak forest in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. The species of the reserve's trees vary with elevation;

Aleppo Pine ''Pinus halepensis'', commonly known as the Aleppo pine, also known as the Jerusalem pine, is a pine native to the Mediterranean region. It was officially named by the botanist Philip Miller in his 1768 book ''The Gardener's Dictionary''; he pro ...

s inhabit the lower altitudes, the mixed pine–oak woodland (comprising Aleppo Pine and Palestine Oak) grows in the middle, and a species of small deciduous oak –

Quercus infectoria ''Quercus infectoria'' or the Aleppo oak is a species of oak well known for producing galls (called manjakani in Malaysia, majuphal in India) that have been traditionally used for centuries in Asia medicinally while also used in softening leather ...

(the Aleppo, or Cyprus, Oak) – grows at the higher altitudes. Other flora in the habitat include

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

, Greek strawberry trees,

pistachio The pistachio (, ; ''Pistacia vera'') is a small to medium-sized tree of the Anacardiaceae, cashew family, originating in Iran. The tree produces nut (fruit)#Culinary definition and uses, seeds that are widely consumed as food. In 2022, world ...

, and

olive tree The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

s. The forest's age structure shows wide variation, with many areas containing mature forest trees and a vigorous

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

Fauna

At least 17 endangered species have been identified within the reserve. These include the Persian

red squirrel The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris''), also called Eurasian red squirrel, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is an arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodent and common throughout Eurasia. Taxonomy There have been ...

, four

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

types, grey wolves and striped

hyenas Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliformia, feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the Family (biology), family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the orde ...

. Woodland

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

also live in the forest. It is also believed but not proven, that this reserve has the last population of Southern Banded Newts living in Jordan

Conservation

Dibeen Forest Reserve was established in 2004 after being listed as a conservation priority in the 1998 protected areas review and the 8.5 km² area became part of the protected area. Between 2004 and 2007,

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

led a project in the Dibeen Forest, Jerash, Al Meirad and Burma municipalities of the region to support the establishment of the nature reserve. This helped to conserve the unique local

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

and encouraged the local communities to make sustainable alternative uses of the available resources. As a result, there was increased awareness of the local capacity-building and need for the conservation-oriented land use planning in the region.UNDP (2003
Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Dibeen Nature Reserve
. Jordan. Despite efforts to protect the forest, it is gradually and systematically being destroyed by the establishment of modern cement projects, intentional fires, over grazing and illegal sporadic logging.

References

External links

Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature
{{Nature reserves in Jordan Nature reserves in Jordan Forest reserves