This endowment fund was created in 2003 to provide a source of annual revenue to support all of RSCN’s operational costs. It is a life-line for all the Society’s work. The capital in the fund is invested under a professional management agency and the return distributed each year to fund the ongoing costs of protected areas, endangered species program, education and awareness activities, socio-economic and community initiatives and many other key aspects of the Society’s work. RSCN urgently needs to raise the level of capital in the Fund by a further JD5 million.

RSCN has been trying to develop this Center for many years, believing there is an urgent and vital need for building capacity in the Arab World to protect and manage its environmental resources wisely in the face of ever increasing development pressure. The Center would provide a training and resource base for the region and would concentrate on developing expertise and skills at the vocational level, not the academic level. The predicted cost of the center with training, research and library facilities, as well as accommodation and conference facilities, is in the region of JD6 million.

Dibeen Forest Reserve is a beautiful and ecologically important tract of forest near the City of Jerash. With rising fuel prices and development pressures, it is facing serious threats from illegal wood cutting, goat grazing and urban development. RSCN has already started socio-economic programs designed to provide alternative sources of income for local communities so that they can afford to buy non-timber fuels and other living needs without damaging the forest. These programs were started with a limited budget and more funds are needed to expand these early ventures and enable them to reach a larger cross-section of the Dibeen population.

Several of RSCN’s tourist facilities were designed before affordable solar energy and ‘green’ waste management systems were available or thought about. Advances in technology, however, and worries about climate change have produced a much wider and cheaper range of options on the market, and RSCN is keen to pioneer the installation of these green technologies into its Guesthouses, lodges and campsites. It would then use these upgraded facilities as models to promote the wider application of such low-carbon alternatives throughout the Jordanian tourism industry.