Amman- 28 August , 2014
The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) and the German Jordanian University (GJU) held a press conference in Amman to highlight the progress of MedScapes Project, a joint project funded by the European Union through their ENPI-CBC MED program.
The project was launched earlier in Cyprus at the beginning of this year and will be implemented till the end of 2015. It joins eight partners from four countries: namely, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon and Jordan, all lead by Loana foundation for the conservation and sustainable use of the Cypriot Countryside.
Mr. Yehya Khaled Director General of RSCN welcomed the audience and thanked them for their interest in landscape conservation and in the activities of the MedScapes Project. Mr. Khaled stressed on the importance of the collaboration between the academic and research institutes and initiatives and the land use planners in developing and adapting international best practices in landscape conservation to the east Mediterranean context.
Dr. Nizar Abu Jaber, the Project Team Manager and the Head of the Centre for the Study of Natural and Cultural Heritage (CSNACH) at the GJU explained that the project consists of eight work packages, among which are the landscape character assessment LCA and mapping in the four EU-MED countries, the capitalization of the project, and the production of tertiary educational material to be offered in post graduate programs.
Mr. Nick Symons, an expert in LCA, explained that the LCA process involves the development and creation of homogeneous units of land called the land description units LDU’s based on their natural and cultural characteristics. Mr. Symons introduced the process and steps of LCA, and stressed on its importance for a wide range of stakeholders and as a tool in landscape conservation and planning.
Eng. Natalia Boulad, Project Team manager at RSCN briefed about the general progress of the project activities. She mentioned that the onscreen mapping process of the LDU’s in Jordan is almost complete, and that RSCN and the GJU are in the process of field verification. She also invited all participants to visit the project website and Facebook page to know more about the project activities in all partner countries.