Have you visited Dana lately? Please do before they turn it into a
copper bowl. In fact, if you have ever been bewildered by Jordan's
biggest walnut tree fed by five fresh water springs, do go and set under it,
enjoy its shade and become bewildered by the majestic branches of this living
organism to the hand of time, ever resistant and fruitful. You may even visit
one of the many development projects that turned the produce of Dana into fine
jewelry or hand made products in tastefully designed containers that
commemorate the history of this land and the will of its people. Stay at hotel
that respects the nature and land
of Jordan and taste truly
Jordanian cuisine made by the hands of women that feed the same to their
children. Please do it this Christmas before greed, ever the nemesis of Dana,
tries to destroy this beautiful nature reserve and turn it into a copper mine.
Dana had seen many hard times. Decades of low income and the harshness
of life drove most of its inhabitants away. By the time a group of Jordanians,
headed by the late great industrialist and even greater environmentalist Anis
Mouasher, drew national attention to its beauty and possibilities, only five
households had remained. After years of diligent work, crafts and homemade
industries were created, a brand name emerged, and natives returned to flourish
the land that was once forgotten. Nature friendly development and value added
was the name of the game in this habitat were three types of plants, previously
unknown to science, were discovered in the mid 1990s. Dana became a destination
for Jordanians and expatriates who wanted to see the valley where a person
could walk through three climates in less than half an hour. Backpackers and others camped there and
enjoyed the beautiful walking trails of Dana.
A combination of ingenuity, vision, will and a genuine love for the land
combined to produce a Dana that for some time was a major contributor to
Jordan's tourism industry—an industry that is estimated to contribute US$1.5
billion this year in revenues to the GDP. It ranked there with Petra
and the Dead Sea as tourism attractions. It brought
a new kind of tourism to Jordan:
nature tourism. All revenues from tourism proceeds to Dana went to Jordanians,
particularly its inhabitants, very little of the value added there was exported
to purchase fineries for tourists as in other sites. Proceeds from Dana stayed
in Jordan
and had a higher multiplier than most tourism projects. Dana became an engine
for growth!
Recently, a decade old study has resurfaced calling for the demise of
what years of hard work had gone into simply for a few copper coins. Dana,
which once bordered King Solomon's copper mines, contains significant reserves
of copper valued at US$1,750 million to be extracted over a period of 20 years
with estimated direct and indirect proceeds to the government of US$700 million
or US$35 million per year—the rest (US$1050 million) will most likely go to the
mining firm. Proponents of this study want to extrapolate one fifth of the
lands of Dana, convert it into a copper mine site and, possibly destroy Jordan's
topmost nature reserve, a reserve that had drawn in admirers from all over the
globe and provided a decent living to its returned inhabitants. But Dana, if it
were to reach its potential, could bring the government and Jordan much more
than dirty copper. With more value added and continued vigor Jordan could reap
tenfold per year what the copper mines promise.
Alas, this not the first time that a quick-buck mentality endangers the
fruits of years of solid partnership and work; other mines bordering Dana
attempted in the late 1990s to infringe upon its borders. Public uproar and
Jordan Society for the Preservation of Nature stopped the shovels from caving
in its outer rim. The diggers backed off in the last minute and left the scene
to the hands that preserve, toil and cultivate beauty.
If you cannot make Dana better, please leave it alone. Mining industries
will not develop Jordan.
Oil, which is now considered the "Black Curse" of the Gulf, was a
detriment to the economic development of the oil rich Arab countries.
Concomitantly, the Dubai
development model, which not only made the desert bloom but also reclaimed the
sea, is considered nowadays the model to follow.
Pray with me this Christmas that Dana remains a Jordanian success and
not a testimony to what the hand of greed can do. At least go set below the
walnut tree and ask yourself how many years it took for this manifestation of
beauty and greatness to grow and how many minutes it would take to kill it. Or
else, just tell them to leave Dana alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment