The Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), in partnership with the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), the Palestine Wildlife Society (PWLS) and the Amman Center for Peace and Development (ACPD), has been commissioned by the European Commission (EC) to implement the project of “Raptor Pest Control” in the Jordan Valley within a timeframe from 2009 till 2012.

The project aims to improve co-operation, long-term dialogue and experience exchange between Arabs and Israelis in the Jordan Valley as a means to strengthen civil society action in peace building and conflict transformation. More specifically, the project’s key objective is to increase the adoption of biological pest control as a sustainable resource management model by farmers in the Jordan Valley through expanding regional cooperation between Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and Gaza in support of the Middle East Peace Process.

During the course of the project a national farmers network could be successfully established and the amount of nesting boxes for barn owls and kestrels in the Jordan Valley was significantly increased. Through implementing educational and awareness workshops, practical field demonstrations, exchange visits and a regional conference, the awareness for Biological Pest Control could be increased and the cooperation between all participating countries could be strengthened. Furthermore, with the help of extern consultant’s different researches in the legal field were conducted. Here the focus was on policies and regulations on the use of pesticides in each country as well as on marketing, consumption and market potential for non-pesticide products. In this context several national food fairs were organized to promote the products of the participating farmers.

The last activities of this project are taking place from January till March 2012, including a municipalities exchange visit, national food fairs as well as workshops about applied ornithology, bird ringing and raptor conservation management.

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