Forests

Jordan has limited forest resources, with less than 1.5% of the country being classified as forests. Of this forest land, only 26% have forest cover with a canopy density of 10% or more and the rest is mostly composed of land sparsely covered with vegetation.

The forests in Jordan, especially natural forests, are fragmented, open in density, slow growing, of degraded conditions and, thus, of low commercial value. Commercial forests are only expected in areas receiving more than 400 mm of precipitation annually. Such lands constitute only 9% of the total forestlands. Afforestation activities can be implemented in areas receiving more than 250 mm/ year which constitute 8.3% of the total forestland.

The forest vegetation in Jordan can be divided into the following categories: Natural forests that are composed of evergreen shrubs, pine and juniper forests as well as broadleaf forests. Artificial or manmade forests, are areas afforested artificially by the Forestry Department since the 1950s