Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Former architect Deema Assaf working to rewild Jordan’s native forests

Former architect Deema Assaf working to rewild Jordan’s native forests

The founder of a rewilding and regeneration program in Jordan has shared her passion for keeping her country’s dwindling forests alive in an interview with Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
Deema Assaf previously worked as an architect for over a decade.

She switched careers to urban forestry after feeling increasingly guilty over her role in the urbanization of the landscape.

“We once had dense forests. There were elephants, rhinos and the Asiatic lion — animals that used to coexist with people here,” Assaf told the Guardian.

“Discovering that made me see the landscape from a different perspective. It is fascinating to see the potential — if human intervention was not affecting it (the ecosystem) negatively, ” she added.

Assaf, who collects information about Jordan’s indigenous forestry plans, became involved in regenerative landscaping and native forest creation, also known as permaculture, the newspaper said.

Her research focuses on the Japanese technique of planting saplings, which results in ultra-dense, multilayered native forests that regenerate 10 times faster than they would naturally.

Through the Miyawaki method, soil is evaluated and improved before planting four types of native seedlings: main tree species, subspecies, shrubs, and ground-covering vegetation. It has the potential to restore lost indigenous forests, which would otherwise take centuries to recover.

However, Assaf has expanded her approach to create plant “communities” and reconnect indigenous species that have coexisted for thousands of years, the Guardian reported.

According to studies, Jordan is one of the driest countries in the world, with 75 percent desert and little rainfall. Deforestation and the climate crisis have reduced the nation’s tree cover to 1 percent, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported.

“It is not drought that causes bare ground, it is bare ground that causes drought,” Assaf said.

She claims that “the more we work on greening, the more we give nature the ability to restore itself.”

In 2018, Assaf started work on a small 107 sq. meter site, the Guardian reported. She has gradually compiled a database of plants and trees as part of plans to develop a Jordanian native forest.

Assaf also organizes workshops, encouraging volunteers to help with tree planting and seed harvesting.

“We are constantly testing techniques; always learning, refining and fine-tuning,” she said.

Assaf is planting 1,100 native seedlings in her fifth forest. Asked how she selects her sites, she said: “It is pretty simple: If it was once a forest, it could be a forest again. It is in the land’s DNA.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
×