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Ammon News - The National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) and the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) signed Sunday a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on preserving the environment and biodiversity and migratory soaring birds.


The memorandum, signed by NEPCO's Director General Amjad Rawashdeh and the RSCN's Director-General Fadi Nasser, stipulates that the company and the organization will collaborate to conduct studies and implement mitigating measures in electricity transmission projects that are geographically located in migratory bird routes, as well as the mechanism for protecting migratory bird routes and biodiversity.

The memorandum is the outcome of joint efforts to improve cooperation and commitment to putting preventative measures into place to reduce threats to migratory birds on the one hand and protect electricity lines on the other hand, as bird electrocution is one of the major threats to birds locally and globally.

Rawashdeh noted that the company has taken effective steps to protect the environment by adhering to national legislation on the protection of the environment and conducting impact assessment studies for its various electric transmission projects.

He emphasized the company's full commitment to implementing the highest international standards for protecting birds in electrical transport projects in order to maintain the status of Jordan as a safe path for migratory birds.

Following a briefing on the RSCN's role in nature conservation, Nasser emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts to preserve the environment and the biosphere.

According to Raed Bani Hani, Acting Secretary-General of the Ministry of Environment, approximately one million birds pass through Jordan each year, highlighting the importance of the Kingdom's role in protecting migratory birds.

For his part, Ibrahim Khader, Regional Director of BirdLife International, which is the international partner of the RSCN, said birds are an important indicator of the quality of the environment, pointing to the need to provide protection for migratory birds that are threatened by hunting and electrocution.

Jordan is home to a huge variety of bird species, according to a 2013 publication by the RSCN, which also reveals that more than 400 species, belonging to 66 families, have been recorded in the Kingdom. Of these, about 70 species are breeding residents, 20 are migrants that are only present during the non-breeding season, and more than 300 are migrants which pass through the country between their breeding and non-breeding grounds. Among the total bird species recorded, less than 100 are considered rare or accidental, and three are introduced.