Trees cut down in one of the Qamouaa forests in Akkar, in August 2024. (Credit: Photo provided by a witness)
Lebanese Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani declared a state of emergency on Sunday for the conservation of Lebanon's forests, "threatened by climate change, repeated fires, illegal and massive tree felling, destruction resulting from the Israeli war in south Lebanon and North Bekaa, as well as concrete encroachments and urban chaos."
Hani spoke during an event organized on the International Day of Forests (which falls on March 21) by the agricultural center of Deir al-Qamar (Chouf), in the village's public library. "Despite all efforts by the Agriculture Ministry in cooperation with other administrations, challenges are increasing, and stricter measures are indispensable," he declared.
Among the measures recently taken, the minister mentioned cooperation with the Defense Ministry to deploy law enforcement forces in areas experiencing massive tree felling. He also stated that he was coordinating with the Justice Ministry to ask judges to expedite the issuance of deterrent judgments against violators. He lastly recommended strengthening field surveillance in cooperation with the Interior Ministry, by creating a central chamber to control violations, in coordination with forest protection centers and forest rangers.
As for decisions made within his administration, Hani announced a freeze on pruning permits for the year 2025 starting April 1, a freeze on granting and renewing charcoal production permits starting June 1, intensifying patrols and reports against violators in coordination with the army and law enforcement, reviewing agricultural land improvement permits to ensure their compliance with sustainable agriculture criteria, and a freeze on construction in forest areas.
Violators often use pruning or charcoal production permits as a pretext to simply cut down trees in forest areas, including species threatened or protected by law, such as conifers. These destructive practices have been common in Lebanon for decades and have never been effectively regulated by the authorities.
This concept of forest sustainability will be at the center of the Ministry's policies, assured Nizar Hani, former director of the Chouf Reserve. He advocated for the concept of sustainable agriculture in forest areas, to improve the relationships between local communities and forests.
"The slogan of this year's International Day of Forests is that of forests and food, due to the pivotal role of the forest environment in global food security, as five billion people in the world rely on the forests for food, directly or indirectly," he concluded.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour.
