In the context of global efforts to introduce new people-centred approaches to biodiversity conservation and dry land management in developing countries, this paper applies various transformation theories to the management of an internationally important nature reserve in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The objectives of the paper are as follows:
To develop an overall (holistic) approach to the biosphere reserve's development and dryland management.
To introduce a new management strategy (the integrated ecosystem management approach) to guide the biosphere reserve's management and dryland areas man agement towards a new approach to management, and to inform how this approach is integrated within the Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands (SUMAMAD) project.
The following management theories and approaches were studied and assessed in relation to the management issues of the biosphere reserve and dryland management: (1) the stages of organizational and management bodies development (Lessem, 1998), which categorized the management's current development stage and identified the attributes needed for the new order; (2) the concepts of strategy and strategic planning (various authors), which guided the selection of a new strategic approach to the management of the biosphere reserve, appropriate to the current development stage; and (3) the Ecosystem Approach to Business Management (Moore, 1996) because of its obvious relevance to natural systems and its emphasis on accommodating the whole ecosystem in interrelating all members of the ecosystem in management development.