The International Long Term Ecological Research network (ILTER) is a global network of scientists working on long-term ecological and sociological research in an effort to promote informed decision making, management and understanding, as well as suggesting solutions for current and future environment-related problems and dilemmas. The ILTER has sites located in almost 40 countries around the world. However, there is a grave shortage of operating networks in the Middle East region, particularly in the desert areas. The network welcomes, therefore, any initiative to add sites in those areas.
The Wadi Araba/Arava Valley, in addition to being an interesting and important landscape and ecosystem aggregation, swayed public attention lately because of the ongoing regional water crisis and some suggestions for a mega-project to deal with this crisis. Simultaneously, the need for agricultural and urban development on both sides of the border affected various aspects of native ecosystems, triggering conservation and management issues.
Initial work conducted on the sandy ecosystem on both sides of the border shows the clash of current socioeconomic processes and active ecological mechanisms, resulting in implications on species conservation and habitat connectivity. This cooperative effort of Jordanian and Israeli scientists has set the stage for the possibility of long-term and thorough investigation of this unique and important landscape.
On June 8th this year, a kick-off meeting is scheduled in Aqaba, where Jordanian and Israeli scientists will meet with experienced LTER scientists and administrators from USA and Europe to determine the form and practice of the proposed local LTER effort. This initiative to establish a new long-term ecological study gels while regional and global occurrences demand immediate answers regarding local environmental and sociological interactions.
In this meeting the participants will try to answer the following issues among others:
- What are the priorities of the regional research?
- What form should any cross-border cooperative research take?
- What is the desired size and shape of the LTER site/sites?
- What will be the best way to attract research efforts from various disciplines, organizations and nationalities?
- How can we best promote the aggregation and availability of acquired information?
The best of luck in this initiative!
