A model for locating fodder shrub plantations sites in the Jordanian badiyah

We developed a GIS desktop model to accurately locate and map prospective areas for sustainable establishment and production of Atriplex plantations and other fodder shrubs in the desert in the north-eastern Jordanian Badiyah. The aim is to provide a tool to assist managers, local communities and development projects in Mediterranean arid and semi-arid rangelands. The model uses freely available data and GIS layers of current land use, land cover, settlement location, soil information, and derivatives from a digital elevation model to provide critical locations of drainage lines and to calculate Areas of Accumulated Water from concentrated runoff. The model identified, accurately located and mapped ~4500 ha (1.44% of the test zone) as technically appropriate for potential shrub plantations sites. The final site map must be field-checked and validated with the local communities and authorities. Our model has potential for wide application over arid and semi-arid Mediterranean rangelands from Morocco to Pakistan, with local adjustment of our parameters and rules. The model considerably reduces the risk and costs of fodder plantation establishment operations, thus increasing the feasibility of efforts to maximise fodder shrub establishment, survival and production.