WADI for Sustainable Ecosystems Development (WADI)

WADI for Sustainable Ecosystems Development (WADI) is a local non-governmental organization founded in December 2018.

The work of WADI focuses on promoting best practices in the production of high-quality native plants and the restoration of degraded ecosystems, while actively engaging the local communities to ensure the  long-term sustainability of its activities. WADI’s vision is to become a regional center of excellence in ecosystem restoration.

WADI’s work centers around the establishment of community-based nurseries dedicated to propagating high-quality native plants. These plants are crucial for the restoration of Jordan’s forests and rangelands. 90% of Jordan’s land is arid and threatened with desertification.

Local community engagement and training are central to WADI’s adopted methodology for ecosystem restoration as the key for long-term sustainability, which would improve adaptability to climate change adversities, protect biodiversity and contribute to long-term food and water security.

With focus on women and youth, WADI has since its inception created more than 1,500 short-term economic opportunities and more than 60 long-term jobs and trained more than 3,000 people on natural resource management and ecological restoration techniques.

To date, Wadi has also produced more than a million high-quality native seedlings using water-saving irrigation techniques and has worked on the rehabilitation of 2320 hectares of land, with a survival rate for planted seedlings reaching almost 80%.

Presently, the organization oversees six partner native plant nurseries situated in diverse areas and ecosystems across the Kingdom including Al-Salt, Madaba, Al-Mafraq, Azraq, Wadi Rum and Jerash.

WADI takes pride in having Her Highness Sharifa Zein bint Nasser as its Honorary Chairperson. The oversight of WADI is entrusted to a board of seven accomplished board members, all deeply committed to WADI’s vision.

WADI has strong and growing partnerships which span multiple sectors. Partners of WADI include the United States Forest Service, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Mitsubishi Corporation, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), The Hashemite Fund for the Development of Jordan Badia (HF), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Disi Women Cooperative, the Carob Farm, the National Center for Agricultural Research (NARC) and others.