Azraq - Traveling
between water oases rich in rare sarhan fish, seasonal migratory birds, endemic water buffalo, and dense woody and grassy forests, Hazem Al-Harisha spends his day in the Azraq Desert Reserve in the Eastern Badia of Jordan.
He visits the protected area on a daily basis, as well as his family. He preserves its four corners, which extend over an area of 74 square kilometers. He preserves the names and shapes of the birds residing in the reserve. Every spring and autumn, he waits for visitors to the reserve from flocks of migratory birds to the north or south, providing them with food that is held in his reserve during their visit.
Hazem Al-Harisha inspects the reserve on a daily basis and preserves its four corners, which extend over an area of 74 square kilometers (Al-Jazeera)
The Azraq Water Reserve is in the middle of the sands of the Eastern Badia of Jordan, adjacent to the border with Saudi Arabia, which are water bodies that were formed by fresh groundwater springs, what is known as the “Qa’ al-Azraq” region, and are fed by rainwater through valleys from neighboring areas, due to their lower level than those areas.
During its last conference in Greece, the World Green Sites Organization announced that the Azraq Water Reserve had received a distinguished award as one of the "100 best sustainable sites in the world."
The award represents an international recognition of the role of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in the management of reserves in Jordan (Al-Jazeera)
Sustainability despite water scarcity
The reserve was established in 1978 in the presence of the Azraq water oases, but these oases faced the danger of drought as a result of the use of their water for drinking, agriculture, tourism, industry and others, and the loss of water sources to feed those oases, says the director of the reserve Hazem Al-Harisha.
Al-Harisha adds to Al Jazeera Net that in 1994 an agreement was signed between the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature and the Jordanian government to revive and sustain the reserve, by providing it with groundwater at an annual rate of up to two million cubic meters of water.
However, the quantities supplied to the reserve range between 500-600 thousand cubic meters annually, and within this water quantity, the association was able to restore 10% of the water oasis. Since then, the wildlife and the diverse vegetation cover have returned to the reserve, and about 39 employees are working in the preservation and sustainability of the reserve, And 24 hours a day.
According to specialists, maintaining and sustaining the water reserve is a "success story" in light of the water scarcity that Jordan suffers from, and the location of the reserve in a hot desert area whose water evaporates in the summer, and adjacent farms that depended on withdrawing their water for agriculture.
Wooden paths that visitors take to see the corners of the Azraq Reserve (the island)
Distinguished biodiversity and environment
The hiker in the reserve is captivated by the place, greenery and trees as far as the eye can see, water and calmness increase its beauty by the tweet of a sparrow or the chirping of a heron, egrets of all kinds, small grebes, and water ponds decorated with birds residing in the reserve such as the water hen, the gull bird, the white-cheeked bulbul, the crowned lark, and others.
The visitor walks to the reserve within two paths for camel seekers, the first is the reed path, its distance is about 900 meters, during which the visitor walks on wooden paths installed on the face of the water, above the water ponds, to watch the fish and the environmental diversity.
As for the other path, it extends for about 3 kilometers and in the middle is a wooden watchtower to watch the endemic birds in the reserve. It also has a corridor to watch the water buffalo permanently residing in the reserve. The hiker enjoys seeing swamps, water ponds, birds, fish and various animals. Every year about 20,000 visitors from Jordan and other countries visit the reserve Arabic and foreign.
In the first track, visitors will see the remains of the Umayyad dam, built about 1,300 years ago, built by the Umayyads during their rule in the region, to form a barrier between fresh groundwater used for drinking, rainwater and saline groundwater wells. The dam extends within the reserve for about 4 kilometers, and consists of basalt stones Black are arranged on top of each other, forming a longitudinal fence, about 3 meters high.
Azraq Reserve includes 133 species of plants, 163 species of invertebrates, 81 species of algae and others (Al-Jazeera)
Birds visit the reserve for the first time
During the past two years, bird-watching teams in the reserve have monitored the visit of new species of birds for the first time, according to Al-Harisha, such as the black and gray eagle, the crested hovering bird, and the jungle pigeon, and its last appearance was in Azraq 55 years ago, and the pink starlings began to return after recording their last visit 45 years ago. Years old plus a wild cat.
In addition to the increase in the numbers and types of migratory birds, the reserve has monitored an increase in the types of nesting birds, including birds that are nesting for the first time in Jordan, such as the desert curlew, the northern bulbul duck, the northern shovel duck, and the chestnut duck, which is one of the endangered birds.
According to Al-Harisha, the reserve contains a distinctive biodiversity, which includes more than 133 species of plants, 163 species of invertebrates, 81 species of algae, as well as 18 species of mammals, two types of amphibians, 350 species of birds, as well as 11 species of reptiles. .
The administration of the reserve was keen to involve the members of the local community from the social components residing in the Azraq area, namely the Druze, Chechens and Bedouins, through tourism and awareness programs for families, youth and school students, and work is being done to transform the cultural diversity in the area to form a beautiful population mosaic that expresses the categories of Jordanian society in Azraq.