Amman, Aug 12 (Petra) — HRH Princess Basma bint Ali, Chairperson of
the Board of Trustees of the Hashemite Fund for Development of the
Jordan Badia and Founder of the Royal Botanical Garden, visited the
rangeland restoration and native seed conservation project in the
Safawi and Azraq regions on Wednesday following the completion of its
first phase.

The initiative, implemented by the Royal Botanical Garden and funded
by the Ministry of Environment’s Environmental Compensation Program,
aims to restore rangelands and conserve native plant seeds across the
Jordanian Badia to support livestock and preserve pastoral
ecosystems.

Princess Basma stated that the project represents a significant
milestone in rehabilitating rangelands and protecting endangered
plant seeds over the medium and long term in the Royal Botanical
Garden’s seed bank. She noted that the first phase involved selecting
10 sites across the Northern, Central, and Southern Badia near water
harvesting structures, where nearly 120,000 seedlings representing 15
native shrub and plant species suitable for desert habitats were
planted.

Her Royal Highness emphasized that the Royal Botanical Garden is
working to institutionalize the management and sustainability of
native vegetation using modern scientific methods. She added that
preparations are underway for the second phase, which targets
planting approximately half a million plants in new Badia locations
to enhance vegetation cover, rebuild soil seed reserves, and transfer
knowledge to local communities.

Minister of Environment Ayman Suleiman reaffirmed the ministry’s
commitment to building strong partnerships with environmental
institutions, commending the project as a model for sustainable
desert ecosystem restoration and expressing readiness to support
similar initiatives.

Under the project, more than 100 plant species have been preserved
and processed, over 2,000 seed samples dried for long-term storage,
nearly 200 plant species documented, and biological and genetic
analyses conducted on selected specimens.

During the tour, which covered the Al-Arteen area in Safawi and the
Al-Ratami area in Azraq, Her Royal Highness was accompanied by
Director General of the Royal Botanical Garden Mohammad Shahbaz,
Director of the Hashemite Fund for Development of the Jordan Badia
Ayesh Qatarna, and Director of the Environmental Compensation Unit
Mohammad Al-Jazi.

//Petra// AF