Jordan Royal Ecological Diving Society JREDS Profile The Jordan Royal Ecological Diving Society (JREDS) began in 1994 with a mission to protect Aqaba’s marine life from further degradation. On August 8, 1995, JREDS registered with the Ministry of Interior as the first and only Jordanian non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the marine environment in the Kingdom. JREDS Mission JREDS aims at the conservation, rehabilitation and enhancement of the marine eco-system in Jordan through grass roots participation, promoting sustainable management of natural marine recourses, lobbying, awareness generation and the development of technical capabilities. JREDS Programs At the moment JREDS is working on the following programs: I. Socio-economy program: This program aims at improving the living standards of the les fortunate people in Aqaba, specially fishermen and people benefiting from the sea. By this program, JREDS is trying to introduce income generating projects and local sea crafts through environmentally sound techniques. II. Youth and Environment program: JREDS is working on building the capacity and encouraging the youth to be more involved in conserving the marine environment in Jordan. One example is the Associate Ranger project, where JREDS is working in partnership with Aqaba Marine Park and the Jordanian Marine Scouts in order to create a young dynamic group of environmentally educated Jordanians who will take a direct role in preserving the biodiversity of the marine ecosystem. These scouts will head a national awareness campaign focused on school aged children with the aim of protecting the marine environment. III Comprehensive public awareness program JREDS is trying to raise the awareness of the local community and tourists of the importance of the preservation of the marine ecosystem and tries to promote a lasting positive change in behavior. This can be done through printed materials, the educational mobile exhibit, underwater photography exhibits, beach clean ups, clean up dives, and special events such as lectures and workshops, Plastic Free Gulf of Aqaba in addition to the yearly event of Clean Up the World Campaign. As part of this, JREDS is working with the Red Crescent Society on an awareness project in the Old Town Aqaba. The goal of this particular project is to reduce the adverse impact of human activities on the general and marine environment by instilling a sense of guardianship in the local public. JREDS is providing capacity building workshops, a public awareness program concerned with the marine environment, and printed materials. Furthermore, as part of regional efforts to promote a healthy environment, JREDS has been selected to facilitate, design and implement a regional environmental public awareness campaign in conservation of the environment of the Red Sea and gulf of Aden (PERSGA). The countries collaborating their efforts for this campaign include Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Djibouti, and Yemen. IV. Education program In efforts to promote conservation through education, JREDS created an Educational Computer Research Center. JREDS staff members train community members and students how to use computers and the Internet to research information regarding the marine environment. V. Monitoring and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and other projects: JREDS composes environmental qualitative reports for government agencies and businesses on issues that affect the marine environment. These report topics include the health of the coral reefs around the Industrial Area in Aqaba, transplantation of hundreds of palm trees, business development on the South Coast, enlargement of the Aqaba airport, and negative impact of proposed mariculture development in Aqaba. JREDS has lobbied and testified advocating the need for environmentally friendly and sustainable business development. Furthermore, JREDS set up three coral monitoring station in different locations in the Gulf of Aqaba. The aim is to monitor the current and future well being of the coral reef in Aqaba which is indicative of the health of the marine environment as a whole JREDS is conducting a Turtles survey in coordination with the Marine Science Station in Aqaba, the goal of this survey is to study the situation of the Turtles and to raise the public awareness on this issue. Membership At the moment JREDS has a 250 members, with a two offices one in Amman and the other one in Aqaba. Membership is open to all people who are interested in preserving the marine life. BACK Contact us:-
Amman office:	Aqaba office:
Telephone: 00962 6 5676173
Telefax: 00962 –6- 5676183	Telefax:: 00962-3-2022995
P.O. Box 831051	P.O. Box 2353
Amman 11183 Jordan	Aqaba 77110 Jordan
E-mail: information@jreds.org	Email: Aqaba@jreds.org
Web site: WWW.jreds.org