What has been the most significant contribution of the National Steering Committee (NSC)?

"In addition to the technical know-how that some [NSC] members provide to the Programme and to the grantees in particular, the most significant contribution of the NSC is that the group provides a "quality assurance" function: it ensures transparency in decision making, and it displays credibility of programme interventions."

In your view, what is the most unique aspect of SGP?

"The most unique aspect of SGP is that it genuinely trusts the community to undertake interventions that have long-term, global and local objectives which transcend immediate benefits , using modest funding and resources. "

"It has been a long process of four years to implement this Project. We realized about the importance of preserving this place when this reserve was established in 1997. Since then we are working towards including the indigenous people in conservation initiatives.

In Wadi Rum, we have formed a partnership with the Real Society for Conservation and a local authority that manages Wadi Rum. We are very proud to be the first in having a community project with Jordanian Bedouins; no-one else has been able to work with them."

"We realized the importance of preserving this place when this reserve was established in 1997. At that time, there were a huge number of tourists. People started to understand the advantages of this human flow, but also its disadvantages for the environment. 

In Wadi Rum, the main problem is soil destruction due to the extensive use of truck wheels used to transport tourists. Also, there are some highly damaging environmental practices such as uncontrolled grazing and fires. The tourists, who come here, rent jeeps and trucks that are not properly equipped to prevent damages to the vegetation. Also, there are practically no designated tracks to visit the interesting places. This is the desert and drivers go everywhere.

With the support of the SGP, our cooperative, is considering alternatives for tourists such as a designated area for the exclusive use of camels and so banning vehicles. To complement this initiative, we plan to change the wheel type of our vehicles."

'We knew that we must use special wheels for our vehicles but people don't have money to introduce the changes required. We were so happy when we knew that this project would start here.

We will implement a revolving fund that will allow us to change the wheels and other gear parts in order to protect the desert carpet. More importantly, our Cooperative will receive support in order to be better organized. We want to set up mechanisms to allow all our people to participate in the benefits of tourism on a fair and equal basis. "