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Executive SummaryBadia rangelands provide a significant portion of the domestically produced forage that sustains the range livestock industry. Sale of livestock and livestock products support an important sector of the economy and enable many rural communities to maintain a valued and traditional way of life. This report describes the results of a range improvement project that included several alternative water harvest techniques that concentrate rain-fed runoff water into a smaller area to allow forage shrub establishment and growth in the low rainfall Tal Rimah area of Jordan. In addition the project focused on appropriate grazing management for sustaining increased grazing.Tal Rimah is situated northwest of Safawi and about 70 km east of Al-Mafraq. The demonstration site chosen for the Tal Rimah range project encompasses about 50 hectares northeast of the village of Tal Rimah.A critical element in the selection of this particular site was the willingness of the herders in the Tal Rimah area to cooperate with BRDC and its partners in setting this area aside for an indefinite period as a demonstration. The local community was involved in the project from the starting point of problem definition, possible solutions, site selection of plant species suitable to the area and the intended use by livestock owners.The 50-hectare demonstration site was prepared to demonstrate a variety of water harvesting configurations for shrub planting including; contour furrows, micro-catchments, and low rock walls.Information developed indicates that water harvesting techniques used along with proper grazing management practices may have the potential for increasing the range carrying capacity from 100 to 250 sheep grazing days per hector annually in areas with at least 200 mm rainfall per year, an increase from three to six fold as compared to non improved range under present management practices. Increases in grazing capacity are expected to be similar in lower rainfall regions, those averaging from 100 to 150 mm per year, but the range carrying capacity is expected to be lower, requiring from 3.5 to 7.0 hectors to support a sheep year-long compared to 1.5 to 3.5 hectors for ranges averaging 200 mm rainfall per year.The test plot used relatively high cost construction alternatives for building the water catchments and planted comparatively expensive shrubs. Even under these conditions the concept appears to be feasible with investment payback period ranging from 4 to 17 years depending up assumptions of the sustainable level of grazing and average rainfall. Community based construction using lower cost construction techniques and lower cost direct seeding may offer a more cost effective approach to increasing the grazing capacity of selected area in the Badia.

This study investigates the traditional and local knowledge of Bedouin (Badu) communities in the Badia region of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan with regard to livestock production, medicinal plant use and rangeland management, and examines how such knowledge has changed over time. Badu customs and practices from the last 50 years are compared with current realities in order to get a clear picture of how modernization, social change and environmental factors have negatively affected the land, the people, livestock and plant biodiversity in the Badia. The findings indicate that the rangeland environment has become severely degraded, herd sizes have decreased, plant species are in danger, and traditional Bedouin lifestyles have changed radically, due to unrelenting pressure on the land, water scarcity, manufactured livestock feed, government intervention, artificial borders, and the abandonment of natural water harvesting and hima practices.

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This paper discusses the qualitative impact of a grazing/herding management program on the profitability of Small Ruminant (SR) herds near the protected area of the Royal Botanic Garden (RBG) in Tell Ar-Rumman, Jordan. As the ultimate goal of establishing a protected area is to rehabilitate and enhance vegetation cover in a sustainable manner, a unique program was set up to meet the needs of local herders and enable the RBG to pursue its biodiversity conservation goals. Financial data pertaining to five local herders were recorded using the accrual accounting system and analyzed for the years 2009 and 2010. Significant changes occurred in the productivity and profitability of the SR herds, with the herders' net incomes increasing by 6% to 159% as a result of direct and indirect support provided by the RBG in 2010. The grazing/herding management program is not only improving the income of participating pastoralists, but is also contributing to the growth and conservation of vegetation and wildlife in Tell Ar-Rumman.