Badia (region)

The Badia (Arabic: البادية, also known as the Syrian steppe or Jordanian steppe) is a region of semi-arid, steppic rangeland in eastern Jordan and the central and northeastern parts of Syria. It covers 85% of the land area of Jordan and 55% of Syria. With low rainfall and poor quality soils, it is principally used for providing pasture for livestock. Bedouin herdsmen, many of whom are still nomadic, graze about twelve million sheep and goats here, as well as a smaller number of camels.

Some of the climax plants in the Syrian Badia are Salsola vermiculata, Stipa barbata, Artemisia herba-alba and Atriplex leucoclada. This desert ecosystem is under threat from drought, over-grazing, hunting and other human activities. Some native animals no longer inhabit this area, and many plant species have died out, with the grasses that have replaced them being of lower nutritional value to livestock.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development aims to alleviate rural poverty, and in 1995, in cooperation with the Syrian government, it started a project to rehabilitate over a million hectares of degraded land in the Syrian Badia. In some areas, when grazing was restricted, there was a spontaneous return of many of the native plants. In other areas which were more heavily degraded, grazing restrictions were supplemented by reseeding and the planting of fodder species. By the time the project ended in 2010, nearly a quarter of a million hectares had been reseeded, and nearly a hundred thousand hectares had been planted with native fodder shrubs. The result has been a great success, with some herdsmen reporting tenfold increases in the productivity of their livestock.