The overarching goal of this project is to study the key challenges, socio-economic issues, and identify the opportunities for ICCAs in Jordan. As part of this goal, this project aims at elaborating ICCAs concept within all Jordanian landscapes/seascapes context.

The specific objectives of this project are to:

1. Identify the existing and potential areas/territories that fit the characteristics of ICCA concept and provide a glimpse of the range, diversity, coverage and values of those ICCAs and the socio-cultural, economic and political contexts important for them
2. Provide an understanding of the status and processes of recognizing and supporting ICCAs on national levels and suggestions on how appropriate recognition and support could be given to them. This will also include the synergies and linkages between the Hima concept and ICCAs.
3. Facilitate for advocacy and networking, both among indigenous peoples and local communities governing ICCAs as also with and among support groups and establish database for all defined, disrupted and desired ICCAs in Jordan under the supervision of RSS.
4. Enhance ICCA awareness and plan a self-strengthening process through building the capacity of the local communities in a wide range of topics that would improve their abilities to document the values of the conserved areas, identify the possible threats and improve their overall resilience. Through the SSP process, the community can heighten or rekindle the connection with its territory, its governance institution and its positive results (conservation of nature, maintenance of the cultural patrimony, sustainable livelihoods, food sovereignty, etc.)
5. A concise strategy to manage the protected areas in Jordan and modalities of ICCAs implementation in Jordan. Administrative measures will focus on the inclusion of ICCAs in conservation, poverty, livelihood, and other action plans, providing platforms for indigenous peoples and local communities? voices in planning and decision-making. This objective will also include elaboration of decentralization law in Jordan No. (49) year 2015 in the context of ICCAs.


3.2 Methodology

The project will follow a participatory approach with all stakeholders. The project will be implemented in 24 months, during which the following activities will be conducted:

1. Provide a detailed assessment of ICCA situation in Jordan and identification of emblematic ones; this will include literature review and situation analysis as well as bi-lateral meetings and focus group discussions with IPLCs and appropriate national stakeholders. The purpose of these meetings and consultations is to identify the existing ICCAs and determine its types based on IUCN management category:

? Strict Nature Reserve and Wilderness Area: Sacred/forbidden or otherwise ?no-use? groves, lakes, springs, mountains, islands and so on with prohibition on any use except on very particular occasions, such as a once a- year ceremony; a special case here may be the territories of un-contacted peoples (such as in the Amazon or India?s Nicobar Islands); many Sacred Natural Sites (SNS) fall into this category.
? National Park: Community declared wildlife sanctuaries (at times also for ecotourism use)
? Natural Monument: Natural monuments (caves, waterfalls, cliffs, rocks) that are protected by communities for religious, cultural or other reasons.
? Habitat/Species Management Area: Heronries and other village tanks with wildlife populations, sea turtle nesting sites, watershed forests above villages, community managed wildlife corridors and riparian vegetation areas.
? Protected Landscape/Seascape: Territories and traditional grounds of indigenous peoples (including mobile peoples) and pastoral communities (including rangelands, wetlands, marine areas and forests), sacred and cultural landscapes and seascapes, collectively managed river basins, and landscapes with a mix of natural ecosystems and agrobiodiversity areas.
? Managed Resource Protected Area: Resource reserves (community forests, grasslands, waterways, coastal and marine stretches, including wildlife habitats) under regulated use and communal rules that assure sustainable harvesting through time.

2. Support the emblematic and potential ICCAs in Jordan: this will include accompanying ICCAs in the Self Strengthening Process (SSP), and preparing a comprehensive situational analysis study that includes historical, cultural, socio-economic, geographical and ecological information for potential ICCAs. Origin, typology, distribution and coverage of ICCAs, proportion of ICCAs governed by local communities, extent of overlap with official protected areas, association to specific local conditions and other issues will also be identified. Participatory analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities (SWOT) will be conducted in each identified ICCA in Jordan. Emblematic potential ICCAs will be supported to develop their own grant proposals as well. The project will also tackle the concept of Hima in Jordan and synergies will be sought to link the definition of ICCA with Hima historical places in Jordan.

3. Formulate a national ICCA committee in Jordan under the umbrella of RSS. Each identified ICCA will be represented by maximum two persons or one CBO in each area/territory.

4. Develop a national database on existing and potential ICCAs in Jordan where all information regarding the identified ICCAs will be mapped using GIS. AracMap v10.0 software will be used to build a database for ICCAs in Jordan. The project team will make the database available to the ICCA committee and all stakeholders through the WDPA.


5. Build the capacity of the local communities in a wide range of topics that would improve their abilities to document the values of the conserved areas, identify the possible threats and improve their overall resilience. This activity will be achieved through the following sub-activities:

? Presentation of National ICCA situation in important national events for awareness and support policy makers and contribute in developing the national strategy that manage the protected areas in Jordan and show modalities of ICCAs implementation in Jordan. The proposed strategy could be elaborated with the decentralization law in Jordan.
? Generation of case studies, stories, articles and short documentaries on ICCAs and emblematic ICCA projects.
? Organization of knowledge exchange forums and workshops amongst different ICCAs.