Members of the Lebanese Civil Defense are working to extinguish a fire in the locality of Remhala, in Mount Lebanon, on April 6, 2025. (Credit: Civil Defense social media.)
The international environmental advocacy group Greenpeace has sounded the alarm over the effects of climate change in Lebanon, following last week's recent fires.
Minister of Agriculture Nizar Hani has declared a state of emergency in the forestry sector to prevent disasters this year.
According to a press release issued Thursday by Greenpeace, the recent fires observed in Lebanon in recent days, even before the start of summer, are "an alarming indicator of the worsening effects of climate change in the region and an early start to the fire season this year," read the statement.
On Wednesday night, a fire occurred in the forests of Harissa. A previous fire had also broken out last Saturday in a forested area of Mount Lebanon, amid a two-week heatwave deemed "unusual," flagged by scientists as a "consequence of climate change," the statement continues.
Kenzie Azmi, a Greenpeace official for the North Africa and Middle East region, considers the timing of these fires "worrying" in light of the rise in temperatures in Lebanon, which have exceeded 30 degrees in the spring.
While some forest fires are caused by human activities or specific natural conditions, there is now a broad scientific consensus establishing that climate change increases the frequency and severity of these fires. In the Middle East region, climate change leads to prolonged droughts and reduced rainfall, increasing the risk of fires. "Sometimes, simply tossing a cigarette butt or not fully extinguishing a campfire" is enough to spark a fire, Kenzie Azmi reminds.
Lebanese Ministry of Environment has stated, according to Greenpeace, that it is finalizing a project aimed at reducing the risk of forest fires in sensitive areas. To this end, Minister Tamara al-Zein has warned of a high fire risk index, particularly in Mount Lebanon and Akkar, due to the prevailing climatic conditions at this time of year.
Since late March, Minister of Agriculture Nizar Hani has on his part, declared a state of emergency for the safeguarding of Lebanon's forests, threatened notably by climate changes, repeated fires, and even illegal and extensive tree cutting. One of the measures taken in this regard is the mobilization of law enforcement in areas where trees are regularly cut down. It is in this framework that the ministry announced Friday, in a communiqué relayed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA), having reported to the authorities, following a complaint, the illegal cutting of oaks in Dahr al-Qatalib, North Lebanon, amounting to about twenty tons of firewood.
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