Kingdom to hold candlelight marches, turn lights off Saturday to mark Earth Hour

AMMAN — Candlelight marches from ten locations across the country will kick off on Saturday night to urge society to pursue more responsible and efficient use of energy, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) said on Wednesday.

The marches will start from the RSCN's nine nature reserves, as well as its Wild Jordan Centre near Jabal Amman's First Circle, as part of a nationwide celebration of Earth Hour, celebrated annually in March.

Local communities will join the candlelight marches, according to the RSCN, which called on people to join its celebration to raise awareness about global warming and climate change.

"This is the 10th consecutive year that the RSCN has organised events to mark Earth Hour. We ultimately aim to raise people's awareness of environment challenges and how the excessive use of energy exploits our natural resources," RSCN Director General Yehya Khaled told The Jordan Times.

In addition to the candlelight marches, the RSCN is turning off all the lights at its nature reserves and Wild Jordan Centre, Khaled said, highlighting that many streets in Jabal Amman and hotels in Aqaba will also participate by going dark between 8:30pm-9:30pm.

"The annual celebration also seeks to send a message to the public that in only 60 minutes, a lot can be achieved to protect the rights of future generations," he pointed out.

The RSCN usually marks Earth Hour in March, he said, noting that the event was delayed because the Kingdom was hosting the Arab summit last month.

The RSCN said that the event, supported by Hikma Pharmaceuticals, will start at 6:00pm at Wild Jordan with a number of lectures, entertainment and educational activities, stressing that children are invited.

“An unprecedented 187 countries and territories took part in this year's Earth Hour on March 25, when over 3,000 landmarks switched off their lights and millions of individuals, businesses and organisations across seven continents stepped forward to change climate change”, according to the Earth Hour website.

Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. The message has grown into a global movement, with more than 50 million people switching off their lights for an hour every year.

Jordan has been marking Earth Hour for a decade now by switching off streetlights on several of the capital’s main roads, in addition to lights at government agencies, archaeological sites, nature reserves, and scores of hotels, restaurants and homes.