Red List Countdown

Coordinator: Hatem Taifour, Botanist

Countdown to Publication of the Jordan Plant Red List

The Royal Botanic Garden is the driving force behind the preparation of the Jordan Plant Red List, to be published in January 2014.

At the RBG's 1st Annual Scientific Day in Amman on January 12, 2012, H.E. Dr. Yassin Khayat, Minister of Environment, H.R.H. Princess Basma bint Ali, founder of the Royal Botanic Garden, and Tariq Abu Taleb, RBG Executive Director, launched a countdown to the publication of the Jordan Plant Red List . The clock is now ticking down to the List's publication.

One of the RBG's main objectives is to utilize its resources to design and implement operational programmes to conserve the plant heritage of Jordan and define a National Plant Conservation Strategy.

Establishing the Red List of Threatened Plant Species in Jordan is a key step in the overall strategy, and also forms an important component of the National Species Strategy.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ provides taxonomic data as well as conservation status and distribution information on plants and animals that have been globally evaluated using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.

Progress
The RBG/IUCN West Asia Red List Training of Trainers Workshop was held in Jordan in January 2011.

The objective of the 5-day workshop was to build red-listing capacities according to IUCN criteria, to enable and facilitate preparation of the Red List of Threatened Species. Forty participants came from 10 countries in the region.

Recommendations were made regarding the establishment of a regional committee to organize red listing activities, development of a conservation network, establishment of the Species Programme in the region, the relative roles of government and non-governmental organizations, priorities for red listing, standardization of between countries, funding and communications.

Workshop Outcomes
Trainers from the Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA) were trained on the basics of red listing and evaluated through an exam prepared by the experts.

National committees from each country were formed in order to coordinate red listing activities within each country, within the RAWA region and internationally.

The experts introduced some conservation funding resources.

On the national level, the Royal Botanic Garden took the lead for flora red listing activities in Jordan.

Other Activities
The RBG is a member of the IUCN National Committee, which enables the RBG to participate in activities related to plant conservation.

The RBG took part in the Conservation Forum organized by the IUCN in Kuwait in May 2011 to discuss the draft agenda of the international conference to be held in Korea in 2012. In addition, the RBG participates in online discussions on important topics to be discussed at the international conference.

A gap analysis study has been carried out in order to determine missing data about plant species according to IUCN Red List criteria, and to determine the categories and priorities, survey design and the layout of Jordan’s Red Book.

Next Steps in Red Listing the Flora of Jordan

1. Floral Data Gathering will be done by international experts and national focal points at the RBG and IUCN.
2. A National Workshop targeting the Red List stakeholders will be held, to describe the results of the gap analysis and determine the action plan.
3. Flora Surveys will be performed for the whole kingdom based on the recommendations of the national workshop.
4. Red List Assessment will be started according to the IUCN Red List.
5. Preparations for Publication of the Red Data Book will be started by the national team.
6. The Biodiversity Conservation Strategy will be prepared, in coordination with the Ministry of Environment and other stakeholders, based on the results.

~~

A talk by Hatem Taifour, RBG botanist and Red List coordinator,
at the RBG's 1st Annual Scientific Day in January 2012

~~~

It is thought that plants such as the following may be threatened in our country. By establishing the Jordan Plant Red List, we will be able to determine the exact status of these species, as well as the many other native plant species of Jordan.