Tal Rimah, Badia, Jordan - Desertification case study

Question 1

what is the population in the Badia, Jordan?

Answer 1

25,000 families, of which 18,000 are below the poverty line.Sparsely populated, mostly by Bedouin tribe who herd animals such as sheep, goats + camels.

Question 2

describe the location of the Badia, Jordan?

Answer 2

Vast desert in Eastern Jordan.

TR rangelands are close to desert town of Safawi, which is a 2hr drive from the Capital city, Amman.

Question 3

Describe the climate in Badia, Jordan.

Answer 3

annual rainfall -> low about <150mm/yr.
Most of the rains recieved are torrential storms.
Temps can be as high as 40C in the summer. however v v cold at night due to lack of cloud cover + diurnal temperature ranges.

Question 4

what is the Badia divided into?

Answer 4

3 sections.
The southern Wadi Rum -> v v little understood about this region.
Northern Badia in Jordans Panhandle -> v v ppl go there.
Central Badia.

Question 5

stats : Badia is v v arid region suffering climate change which is leading to desertification. How much as rainfall /annum declined over 5 months in 2002-03 compared to 2005 -06.

Answer 5

the total amount of rainfall has declined from 163 mm/yr in 2002/3 to 62 mm 2005/6.

Question 6

what are the future projections of Climate in the Badia? for 2030 - 2049 compared with the results of 1980- 1999.

Answer 6

mean annual precip is exp to decrease from -11% to -18%
Mean annual temp ==> +2C
consecutive dry days increases from -5 to +4 days.

Question 7

What caused the desertification in Badia?

Answer 7

• following the 1st gulf war 1991, large no of sheep available cheaply from Iraq so local farmers bought hundreds of them allowing them to graze rangelands –> overgrazing tipped ecol balance –> land desertified + degraded.
  The grazing pastures were quickly abandoned + famrers migrated from the area -> some became nomads + most migrated to the capital city, Amman.
  The rural depop has put strain on provisio of resources in the city –> more ppl live below pov line as a result.

Rapid pop growth has also reduced water availability –> whilst its already one of the TOP 4 DRIEST places in the world, its water availability per capita declined from 3,600m3 in 1946 - 145m3 in 2008.

Climate change is reducing the water table as it cuaig soils to get drier + water ear surface evaporates + leaves via cap action. Drier soils -> less consolidated + less veg bc cnt support root –> liable to erosion -> advance of sediment + dust into cities.
More droughts + heat waves -> less veg and thus fewer roots anchor the soils , increasing mobility of hte soil –> desertif.

Question 8

how has water availability /capital declined from 1946 - 2008?

Answer 8

3,600m3 to 145m3

Question 9

general impact of desertification (ecosystems)

Answer 9

• vegetation damaged by sandblasting -> alot of farmers thus moved to inner cities , switching trades = finding work in informal sector.
• landscape loses biodiversity , ie trees stripped for fuel + weathering process alter landscape
• reduction in habitat and increased competition between species.
• land degradation in Jordan has lead to isolation of some animal+ plant species -> reduced genetic diversity and thus increased risk of extinction/
  currently , b/w 200- 250 plant species are nationally rare(2009)

Question 10

impact of desertif on ppl

Answer 10

rural depopulation as rural areas are unproductive + sparsely vegetated -> ppl leave in search for better employment opportunities (often informal sector jobs) - in long term could result in exceeded carrying capacity as more ppl share the resources in the city

• children taken out of school as families cant afford to keep them there -> will reduce academic ability of pop -> less chance of innovation to solve desertif and thus problem likely to get worse.
• malnutrition + extreme starvation increases as situtation progresses (ie due to strain on resources caused by increased urban pop + hard baked, unproductive soils preventing crop harvesting)

Question 11

impact of desertif on landscapes.

Answer 11

development of salt crusts from increasing salinity of soils.

Question 12

What has been done to address problem of Desertification in Badia?

Answer 12

1) Tal Rimah rangelands rehab project initated 2002 w/ financial usupport of UNAIDS + US forestry service.
2) A plan was agreed to turn the wasteland back t sus productie grazing land
3) Total area under grazing protection was 40Ha, incl 1.5Ha of rock wall structures -> allow land to grow + develop, also promote harvesting of water.
4) the site was prepped for a variety of water harvesting techniques for shrub planting.

Question 13

what is water harvesting?

Answer 13

where water is diverted along contours into shallow ditches where drought tolerant shrubs eg atriplex have been plant.

Question 14

what is the benefit of water harvesting?

Answer 14

• the newly introduced plants (ie atriplex) are extremely well suited to the hostile conditions they were able to grow quickly into shrubs to provide grazing for animals. provide fuel for firewood, roots to help hold the soil together, encourage greater species diversity by offering a number of different habitats for birds + insects.
  water harvesting also - helps to retain topsoil

Question 15

what was the main aim of the Tal Rimah Rangelands Rehab project?

Answer 15

• it was to turn the wasteland it had become into sustainable productive, grazing land.

Question 16

how successful has the project been?

Answer 16

• by 2008 –> some sheep reintroduced in a carefully managed pilot study to enable evaluation of project + results showed that b/w 2004 - 2008 , the umber of plant + animal species had increased from 21 - 54 .
  Animals + birds are returning to the area + birds are nesting @ base of shrubs.
  Farmers can now male a living out of land –> less likely to migrate –> local econ benefits + communities stabilise.
  The water harvesting techniques + proper grazing management practices have potential to increase the carrying capacity of the desert area so that each Ha has potential to be grazed for 250 grazing days /yr rather than 100.

Question 17

evaluate human responses of resilience, mitigation + adaptation to desertif in TR, Badia?

Answer 17

• w/o coop of local comm (ie in building stone walls) project would not be a success (reduced costs + comm involvement meant local had better understanding of the project)
• local ppl had show nresilience –> having to resist temptation to return to land soo which would risk damaging it once again. The local community involved in project from the start,and coming up w/ possible solutions, w/ site selection of plant species suitable to the area and the intended use by livestock owners.
  The locals have had to adapt farming techniques + stock management practices to enable new plants to become more established , AND to avoid risk of overgrazing.
  Gradually, new shrubs have colonised the area, so stocking levels have increased. By using local community based construction , the cost of the project was also lowered.

Question 18

which appropriate tech was used in TR rangelands to combat desertif sustainability.

Answer 18

contour furrows (70%)
microcatchments (20%)
Low ROck walls (10%)

Question 19

+/- of contour furrows

Answer 19

• they are a simple water harvesting technique
  + can easily be done w/ tractor or hand draw plough (ie suitable for local scale)
  + can be implemented on land slopes of 1% - 8% with variable soil depth. (except shallow soils)
  + particularly efficient in intercepting runoff water + redistributing it w/ high capacity towards atriplex plants.

Question 20

+/- of microcatchments.

Answer 20

• only suitable for slopes upto 8%.
• not sensitive to slope changes due to their shape which concentrates water to where the crop is to be planted.
  they are constructed w/ a hoe :) (ie used at local scale)
• particularly suitable for range crops with the flexibility to plant more than one seedling in each bund –> thus can produce higher yeilds of crop

Question 21

+/- rock walls.

Answer 21

+ stone walls were constructed to control and retain water.
+ slow the runoff velocity, control accelerated soil erosion in the small gullies, serve as a water harvesting structure
+ they also were constructed to retain topsoil + harvest water + encourage veg growth.