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4.1 ZONING AND DEFINING THE CORE AREA
4.3 PUBLIC AWARENESSPUBLIC AWARENESS
4.3.1 With the local community 4.3.2 With the general public 4.3.3 Carnivores vs. local people
4.1 ZONING AND DEFINING THE CORE AREA
An initial zoning plan was prepared by the RSCN defining three main sections within the reserve: the wilderness, semi-intensive use, and intensive use zones as shown in Map 14, Appendix 1. In the same map we have proposed the location of the core area according to the findings of the survey. However, the borders of this division still need to be augmented with findings from other ecological baseline surveys, whether fauna or flora.
Rowe et al. (1998) suggested excluding areas with intensive human population or use from the reserve's borders as a solution to property problems. One of the areas they suggested is Wadi el Marsad, but an estimation of the ecological importance of it was recommended before doing so. According to the results, Wadi el Marsad and the adjoining Mountain el Marsad is inhabited by at least one family pack of Blanford’s fox consisting of a male and a female[1]. In addition, interviews done in that area indicated the presence of both ibex and hyrax. Therefore, it is recommended that this area remain within the reserve boundaries.
A relatively undisturbed area south of the reserve's boundary was noticed in the preliminary zoning plan for the reserve. This area (Map 5, Appendix 1) was studied and sampled as any other site in the reserve to reveal the state of its naturalness. Results from this area indicate that incorporating it with the reserve and redefining the reserve's borders accordingly will not only extend the reserve's undisturbed habitat in terms of grazing, local people, and tourism, but will also give large carnivores currently taking refuge in the Jordan-Saudi border’s mountains a corridor from which to cross to the reserve if proper protection is given. If the core area is determined to be where suggested here, this linking will also give an opportunity to extend the core area to the less disturbed southern parts of Rum, south of the present borders.
[1] Work in this area was cut off two days before schedule because of the unfortunate death of H. M. King Hussein. The number of Blanford’s fox in the Marsad pack could be higher.
As the establishment of Rum reserve had an objective of increasing tourism revenue and maximizing local economic returns in parallel with conserving the ecological and archaeological resources of the site (RSCN 1998), it is very important for the management to consolidate an ecotourism plan that will achieve both targets in the same time. Compromises unavoidably have to be made and will be in the expense of both targets, tourism and the environment. Apparently, the reserve now is under heavy and continuous disturbance brought on from tourism industry in that area. Since movement of vehicles inside the reserve along with associated tourism activities are likely to be two of the major causes of disturbance for carnivores and other wildlife in the reserve, organizing the tourism industry in Rum should be the first priority for the management. For a list of additional tourism activities, see Appendix 16.
Grazing should be regulated throughout the reserve area. The loss of vegetation due to overgrazing affects the presence and abundance of carnivore prey species. It should be stopped permanently inside the proposed core area of Jebel Qattar and in another two wadis, Wadi Shallaleh and Lawrence pools (7-33-950E/32-75-300N and 7-33-750E/32-73-800N respectively). The effect of grazing in the latter two is extremely damaging to the sites and, if continued in the present manner, recovery may not be possible. They are the only other water systems in the reserve beside the ones found in the core area.
It was noticed that after the heavy rainfalls in early February, germinating annual species were heavily grazed nearly all over the reserve. In addition, grazing is done indiscriminately between grazing territories by tribes (although other activities like dam building and farming are territorial for different tribes). Thus, it is extremely important that grazing be organized, potentially, by planning where grazing occurs in certain wadis allowing at least 5 years for recovery. The fact that goats (Capra hircus) are blamed for the present state of degraded plant cover throughout the eastern Mediterranean region (Attalah 1969), replacing them with sheep herds (Ovis aries) which are more selective in their feeding habits, feeding normally on grasses and broad-leafed shrubs rather that on the growing tips of trees should be fully studied. A joint fattening scheme with the RSCN for those existing herds might lower the pressure on the grazing areas in Rum. Such projects proved to be successful in Dana Nature Reserve (Mr. Alan Rowe, Personal communication).
The RSCN should start to engage rangers as soon as possible in reserve management activities such as patrolling for hunting, grazing, and illegal trespassing, all which are activities that affect carnivores. An important point that the management should note is the composition of the rangers. Rangers should be representing all tribes found inside or around the reserve (for tribal composition refer to Rowe et al. 1998).
The reserve is now cut off from the RSCN headquarters in Amman and communication is done through a public phone only. Communication between the reserve and the headquarters or between the reserve management and the rangers should be improved and both the reserve management and rangers should be equipped with radios in their cars or with portable ones. All rangers to be working in the reserve should be given at least basic training in wildlife and nature conservation, and they should be familiar with the ethics of the RSCN.
| I SUMMARY | I ARABIC SUMMARY | II. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
| 1 . INTRODUCTION | 2 . METHODS | 3 . RESULTS AND DISCUSSION |
| 4 . RECOMMENDATIONS | 5 . REFERENCES SITED | APPENDICES |
