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ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION |
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Queen Noor and her eldest son Prince Hamzah joined members of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature and nature conservation groups for the annual tree-planting ceremony at the Noor Al Hussein forest in Yajouz. |
The Queen headed a national commission comprised of
a team of over 180 Jordanian specialists working in co-operation with the IUCN, to launch
a national strategy to implement the IUCN's World Environment Strategy. The latter led to
the formulation 
of the Middle East’s first National Environmental Strategy, which was
adopted by the government of Jordan in 1991.
Jordan’s Environment Law, which was subsequently approved by parliament in July 1995, has set standards for water use and quality, specifications to measure and control air pollution and conditions for the establishment and operation of wild and aquatic nature reserves. It has imposed stringent fines on vessels polluting our marine environment and ensured that factories and vehicles reduce their emissions within a limit set by the environmental council.
National Environmental Activities
Queen Noor also helped found the Aqaba Committee for the
Protection of the Environment and promoted the establishment of nature reserves and the
aquarium at the Marine Science Station. She worked to regulate diving, protect endangered
marine species and led efforts to clean up Aqaba’s beaches and shores.
She annually
organizes and participates in numerous volunteer tree-planting and anti-pollution /
clean-up campaigns and has supported the establishment of 6 nature reserves and 500
environmental school clubs by the RSCN throughout the Kingdom.
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King Hussein and Queen Noor planting trees at the Hashemite University in Zarka. |
Queen Noor, Patron of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN)
Queen Noor, who traces her environmental activism back to her freshman year at
Princeton University when the first Earth Day was commemorated, became the Patron of the
RSCN in April 1996 for her "continuous support of the RSCN’s projects and aims,
her activism in environmental protection, in promoting awareness and in initiating
community action," for which she also received the 1995 United Nations Environment
Program Global 500 Award.
Founded in 1966 under the patronage of King Hussein, the RSCN is a non
governmental organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of Jordan’s
natural resources and wildlife. Its numerous achievements include the establishment of six
nature reserves covering over 1000 square kilometers, the successful captive breeding of
the endangered Arabian Oryx, gazelle and ibex and their re-introduction to the wild, the
control of illegal hunting throughout the Kingdom as well as the establishment of 750
Nature Conservation Clubs in the country’s schools.
The
RSCN made the Guinness Book of World Records when Al-Shomari nature reserve witnessed the
re-introduction of locally extinct species into their natural habitat; the society plans
to establish twelve reserves covering 4% of Jordan. For more information on the RSCN,
please e-mail the society at rscn@nets.com.jo .
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On the occasion of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature’s (RSCN) 30th anniversary, Their Majesties King Hussein (RSCN’s Honorary President) and Queen Noor (RSCN’s Patron) attended an RSCN fund-raising dinner. |
Queen Noor / Patron of The World Conservation Union (IUCN):
Founded in 1948, IUCN – The World Conservation Union is one of the world's oldest international conservation organizations. It brings together states, government agencies and a diverse range of non-governmental organizations in a unique world partnership: over 900 members in all, spread across some 138 countries. As a Union, IUCN seeks to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
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Her Majesty Queen Noor delivered the keynote address at the World Conservation Congress held by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in Montreal, Canada. |
On 3 November 1998, the world environment and conservation community met in Fontainebleau, France to mark the first half-century of the modern international conservation movement, initiated in 1948 with the establishment of IUCN – The World Conservation Union. Queen Noor, IUCN Patron, gave the keynote address at the opening ceremony, which was attended by French President Jacques Chirac, President of Burkina Faso Mr. Compaore, President of Mali Mr. Konare and President of the Swiss Federation Mr. Cotti. Click here to read the Queen's speech.
To read Queen Noor's "Wish List for the Earth", click here.
Jordan is represented by nine members in the IUCN, which include the government (through the General Corporation for Environmental Protection), the RSCN, Jordan Environment Society, Jordan Society for Desertification Control and Badiyah Development, Jordan University, Friends of Archaeology, the Petra National Trust, the Higher Council for Science and Technology and the Arab Women’s Organization. The IUCN national committee in Jordan is taking a major role in establishing a regional committee that will include West and Central Asia and North Africa. For more information on the IUCN, please e-mail them at mail@hq.iucn.org or see their Web Site.
Queen Noor / Honorary President of BirdLife International
BirdLife International, a global conservation alliance that seeks
to address global priorities for conservation using birds as indicators, is the oldest
conservation organization in the world with the widest international network of
conservation organizations globally
Its programs include identification of bird species under the greatest threat of extinction and of the most valuable areas around the world for birds, where many species can be conserved at one site. The Rare Bird Club, which was established by BirldLife in 1988, is presided over by HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and comprises over 300 members including Sultan Qabous of Oman.
In October 1997, Queen Noor hosted BirdLife International’s Rare Bird Club first international gathering in the Middle East. The 5 day event, which included bird watching at the Dana Nature Reserve, Wadi Araba, Petra and Wadi Rum, also raised funds for the work of Birdlife and for the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), its partner in Jordan.
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During the 1970s (prior to her marriage), Queen Noor was part of an 8-member team, who undertook an expedition that was organized by the National Photographic Index of Australian Birds. The 4-week expedition to the rain forest country of Iron Range, Cape York was a great photographic success and added 30 birds to the national collection, including 13 which were new to the Index. TOP LEFT: Queen Noor far left and naturalist photographer Mr. Chris Cameron TOP RIGHT: (from right to left) Ray Howarth, Queen Noor, Molly Clampett, Chris Cameron and Wilma Tait. LEFT: Green-backed honeyeater, only 4 1/2 in long, was the prize of the expedition. Prior to this expedition, the honeyeater had never been photographed before anywhere in the world. |
BirdLife has helped identify a global network of sites that are priorities for conservation of the world’s biodiversity. In the Middle East it has identified 391 important bird areas and two endemic bird areas, and concluded that the region’s complex patchwork of environments, encompassing some of the largest and most diverse wetland, steppe, desert and marine ecosystems in the world, provide habitats for more than 800 species of birds. The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, BirdLife's Partner in Jordan, has played a crucial role in developing BirdLife’s program in the region and in leading a popular national movement to promote awareness of environmental issues.
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Queen Noor and her daughter Princess Raiyah bird-watching at the Dana Nature Reserve. |
Jordan is actively involved in breeding programs for globally threatened bird species that include Marmaronetta angustirostris (the Marbled Teal), Falco naumanii (Lesser Kestrel) and Chlamydotis undulata (Houbara Bustard). Jordan also lies on a main bird-migration route between Africa and Eurasia and is an important feeding and resting ground for the spectacular spring migration of raptors through Jordan, heading for breeding grounds north and east of the Caucasus mountain. Bird watching tours are organized by the RSCN and help fund the conservation of the country’s nature reserves.
Queen Noor / Board Member of WWF:
In summer of 1999, Queen Noor became the Board
Member of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which during the past few years, has
analyzed biodiversity in every region of the world to identify global
priorities for conservation. Through extensive literature reviews
and consultation with hundreds of regional experts, WWF has prepared a
global map delineating more than 200 eco-regions -- called the Global 200
-- that are the most distinctive examples of the Earth's diverse
habitats. This analysis includes rainforests, tundra, deserts,
savannahs, freshwater systems and marine systems. In 1998, the WWF
launched its "Living Planet Campaign",, an ambitious global
conservation action campaign to engage individuals, governments, and
industry in active support of conservation by the year 2000. For
more information on WWF's activities, please visit the
WWF
Web Site or contact them at:
World
Wildlife Fund
120 Twenty-Fourth St., NW, Washington, DC 20037 - 1175, USA
Tel: (202) 293 - 4800
Fax: (202) 293 - 9211
Affiliated with World Wife Fund for Nature.