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Dana and Qadisiyah Local Community Cooperative

Tafilah, Jordan
Joined November 2017

Local community cooperative in rural, southern Jordan. Works to claim the land rights to its customary land by empowering members of the local community and by educating a wider international audience

Presence in: Jordan
Focus: Community / Customary Land Rights, Education, Environmental Justice, Livelihoods, Right to Information, Traditional / Customary Justice, Women's Rights

The people of Dana and Qadisiyah villages set up the Dana and Qadisiyah Local Community Cooperative in 1994 after the Jordanian Government authorised that their customary land be turned into a nature reserve. The Cooperative has a general assembly of more than 100 families, and works to claim the land rights to the community’s customary land by empowering local people to adopt a more socio-political role, and by educating a wider international audience to the community’s loss of land rights.

The work has a strong emphasis on empowering young people and women at local level, and it has a youth programme and a women’s programme. Other projects concentrate on the restoration of Dana village (an Ottoman village unique in Jordan) and land protection i.e. protecting local ownership of the village’s individually owned land by encouraging landowners to join the Cooperative and to sell to the Cooperative only. Its other projects relate to sustainable tourism. The Cooperative operates the Dana Hotel and Wadi Dana Eco-camp. The Dana Hotel was the first community run hotel in Jordan. The tourism ventures ensure that the Cooperative has a strong and positive presence in the Dana Nature Reserve (created upon their customary land), and provide income, work experience and training for members of the local community, including training guides to international standards.

The Cooperative also networks nationally and internationally. It is proactive in working to preserve the Hima methods (traditional land management) within Jordan and in educating younger generations and the international community.   Working with the ILC and key stakeholders in Jordan, the Cooperative is developing and implementing a national engagement strategy for people centred land governance in Jordan (official launch September 2017).

 

People Associated With This Organization

Khalid Khawaldeh

Jordan  
Dana and Qadisiyah Local Community... (Unverified)
Joined November 2017
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Environmental Justice, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Livelihoods, Traditional / Customary Justice, Women's Rights
I am a co-founding member of the Dana and Qadisiyah Local Community Cooperative (established in ‎‎1994), and undertake the voluntary role of Projects and Sustainable Development Manager.‎
The work of the Cooperative centres around the empowerment of our community to claim our ‎customary land back. We work on empowering the individuals within our community to be able to ‎stand up for their cultural, economic, environmental and social rights.‎
We have a women’s programme and a youth programme, and run projects that concentrate on ‎restoring our Ottoman village and protecting local ownership of the village’s individually and ‎community owned land. We also run projects related to eco-tourism within the nature reserve which ‎was established on our customary land.‎
‎ My role involves working within the community and also reaching outward within Jordan and ‎internationally to network, share our experiences and knowledge exchange with others.‎
‎ The major project I am managing currently i

Lorraine Walker

Jordan  
Dana and Qadisiyah Local Community...
Joined November 2017
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Environmental Justice, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Right to Information, Traditional / Customary Justice, Women's Rights
I am a volunteer with the Dana and Qadisiyah Local Community Cooperative in rural, southern Jordan. The people of Dana and Qadisiyah villages set up the Cooperative in 1994 after the Jordanian Government authorised that their customary land be turned into a nature reserve. The Cooperative works to claim the land rights to its customary land by empowering members of the local community to adopt a more socio-political role, and by educating a wider international audience to the community's loss of land rights.
I support the cooperative's sustainable development projects (including eco-tourism in the nature reserve) and am part of the cooperative's project team that is working with the ILC to develop and implement a national engagement strategy for people centred land governance in Jordan.
I am new to working in land governance - I have a background in healthcare governance! My purpose in joining the network is to develop my understanding of land governance and to link with others.
Lorraine Walker is the network champion (main point of contact) for Dana and Qadisiyah Local Community Cooperative.

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