Jordan

Asia

133

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Jordan is a country of transition between the Mediterranean, the Irano-Turanian steppe, the Arabian desert and the tropical strip of the Red Sea, and that confluence is nowhere better appreciated than in the Dana reserve, where a single descent of one thousand five hundred metres takes you from juniper and oak woodland into a desert canyon. The Rift valley runs the length of the country from north to south and funnels the migration of storks and raptors between Eurasia and Africa. The eastern desert, of black basalt and hamada, holds oases such as Azraq, while Wadi Rum spreads sandstone massifs across red sand, with Nubian ibex and Arabian wolves. In the Gulf of Aqaba, the coral reefs of the Red Sea reach right up to the shore and sit alongside seagrass meadows where green turtles feed.

The nature of Jordan

National animal: The Arabian oryx is the national animal; the Sinai rosefinch is the national bird

Did you know?

The Azraq oasis was an enormous wetland in the middle of the desert, a vital stopover for migratory birds, until massive pumping of its aquifer to supply Amman left it dry in 1993. The most singular fish of the place, a small cyprinodont that exists nowhere else in the world, survived only because animals had been kept in captivity, and it was returned to the pools when water began to be pumped back into the oasis.

Biodiversity profile

Oriente Medio (Levante)27 Areas Importantes para las Aves cubren 7.600 km2 (8,5% de la superficie de Jordania)

Climate

•Mediterraneo (Csa) en las tierras altas del noroeste
•Arido y desertico (BWh) en el este y sur (Badia, Wadi Rum)
•Clima subtropical en el Valle del Rift (Mar Muerto)

Main biomes

•Tierras altas mediterraneas boscosas (noroeste)
•Valle del Rift Jordano, con el Mar Muerto (punto mas bajo de la Tierra)
•Estepa arida (Badia)
•Desierto hiperarido de Wadi Rum (sur)
•Desierto de basalto y hamada
•Oasis de acuífero
•Cañón de arenisca
•Bosque mediterráneo de montaña
•Estepa irano-turania
•Arrecife de coral
•Corredor migratorio del Rift

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Golfo de Aqaba (unica costa marina del pais), con arrecifes de coral de gran diversidad

Flagship wildlife

•Ibice nubio
•Serrin sirio (mayor colonia reproductora mundial en la Reserva de Dana)
•Zorro de Blanford
•Gacela de arena
•Órix de Arabia
•Íbice de Nubia
•Lobo árabe
•Onagro asiático
•Gacela de montaña
•Caracal
•Cigüeña blanca
•Buitre leonado
•Tortuga verde
•Hiena rayada

Notable endemic species

•Lirio de Dana, especie endemica de iris que solo existe en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Dana
•La Reserva de Dana comprime las 4 zonas biogeograficas del pais (Mediterranea, Irano-Turanica, Saharo-Arabiga y de penetracion sudanesa) en un unico espacio, albergando un tercio de la flora nacional
•Ciprinodóntido de Azraq

Notable threatened species

•Serrin sirio (globalmente amenazado, con la mayor colonia reproductora mundial conocida en Dana)
•Ibice nubio (recuperado de menos de 50 a mas de 120 individuos en Dana gracias a gestion activa)
•Gato de las arenas y lince caracal, presentes en zonas desertificas

Notable protected areas

•Reserva de la Biosfera de Dana (mayor y mas biodiversa reserva de Jordania)
•Reserva Natural de Wadi Mujib (canon del Rift hacia el Mar Muerto)
•Wadi Rum (desierto protegido, Patrimonio Mundial)
•Reserva de Humedales de Azraq
•Reserva de Shaumari
•Área Protegida de Wadi Rum
•Reserva de Mujib
•Reserva de Ajloun

Main conservation threats

•Sobrepastoreo
•Tala de leña
•Caza furtiva, principalmente de ibices y perdices
•Escasez extrema de agua en una de las regiones mas aridas del mundo

Notable natural phenomena

•Jordania se situa en la confluencia de tres continentes (Asia, Africa, Europa) en terminos de rutas migratorias de aves, con 27 Areas Importantes para las Aves identificadas

Conservation

Shaumari was one of the first reserves in the world to receive Arabian oryx from the international breeding herd when the species was extinct in the wild. The overexploitation of aquifers remains the country's great environmental problem.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Dana between March and May for birds and flowering plants. Azraq in spring and autumn for waterbird migration. Wadi Rum at dawn for ibex and desert birds.

Sources: UNESCO MAB - Dana Biosphere Reserve | a-z-animals.com - Wildlife in Jordan | unescomedcenter.org - Dana Biosphere Reserve | RSCN/CBD - Dana Biosphere Reserve Jordan Biodiversity

Desert Grassland Ocean

Parks and reserves

Protected Area

Wadi Rum

The Valley of the Moon; the setting of the Arab Revolt led by Lawrence of Arabia in 1917-18

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Dana Biosphere Reserve

Jordan's largest nature reserve, spanning four distinct climatic zones across a drop of more than 1,600 metres

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Ajloun

A Mediterranean forest of oak and pistachio in the hills of northern Jordan, with reintroduced roe deer.

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Mujib

The lowest-lying nature reserve in the world, with more than a thousand metres of descent to the Dead Sea.

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Diving and snorkelling

Reef/Wreck

Aqaba Marine Park

Jordan's Red Sea coast is a mere 27 km, but it packs some twenty dives into the park. The gulf is so narrow and so deep that there are no outer reefs: almost everything is dived from the shore. Upwellings of cold, nutrient-rich water keep the coral in very good condition. The wreck of the Cedar Pride and the Japanese Gardens are the best-known sites.

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