In terms of desertification status, the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification has divided the land into four major zones as following:

I – Zone 1: mainly restricted to the Saharo-Arabian and Sudanian Penetration areas. The area witnessed high rates of desertification and reached an advanced stage of desertification and can be considered as highly desertified area.  Aspects of desertification in this zone are the absence of vegetation cover, the dominant desert pavements, the high salt contents and dominance of gypsiorthids soils (MOA, 1993). The desertification process within this zone is also accelerated by the low annual rainfall (<100 mm). At the eastern borders with Saudi Arabia, large areas are covered by sand dunes, particularly areas of Wadi Rum, Ghadeer al-Sheikh, Bayer and Mudawwara. The rest of the area is covered with desert pavement almost with no visible plant cover. Some plant species, however, can be found inside waterways.

II- Zone 2: most of this zone is Steppe and located within the Irano-Turanian climate. The area is considered as a transitional zone of the Badia. A previous project (JAZPP, 2000) indicated that the intensive agricultural activity of barley cultivation and irrigation is taking place in the area. The dominant aspects of desertification in this zone are the higher rates of erosion by wind and water, the substantial accumulation of calcareous silt on the soil surface, low germination rate of plants, low intensity of plant cover caused by overgrazing and poor rainfall distribution. The area is also affected by soil surface crust that accelerates erosion by water and a soil compaction problem caused by uncontrolled movement and travel of grazing herds and vehicles.  Many parts of this zone, however, have a high resilience; indicated by the high recovery and productivity of the protected natural vegetation inside natural and grazing reserves

III – Zone 3: this zone falls completely within Mediterranean climate and includes semi-arid and dry sub-humid zones. Annual rainfall in this zone is relatively high and varies from 300 mm to more than 600 mm. Existing soils are believed to be developed under humid climate which indicates that this zone has passed through a physical environmental change. Nevertheless, anthropogenic factors of woodland cutting, urbanization and land fragmentation have accelerated desertification in this zone. Currently, observed aspects of desertification includes the recession of forest areas, high rate of water erosion by water, expansion of urbanized area in the high rainfall zone, reduction in soil organic matter and soil compaction and deterioration.

IV – Zone 4

This zone includes the irrigated area in Jordan Valley and extends from Tiberia Lake in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. The area is different from other zones in terms of climate, soils and land management. Irrigation is the dominant land use in this zone with surface water as the main source of irrigation. Aspects of desertification in this zone are mainly the soil salinization caused by improper irrigation practices and fertilization and land abandonment in the southern areas resulted from deep plowing and mixing of underlying Marl with soil material.