Fighting Lebanon's illegal logging scourge

Protecting the trees: near his village of Ainata, "nearly 150 centuries-old oak trees have been felled" in the past year, said police officer Ghandi Rahme, pointing at the tree stumps in the rocky ground around him. He is one of a dozen locals making the rounds on a volunteer basis, hoping to deter loggers who arrive in off-road vehicles and take to the trees with chainsaws

Crisis in Lebanon: forest still covers 13 percent of the Middle Eastern country. Since late 2019, however, economic meltdown has plunged much of the population into poverty. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 95 percent in value. Power cuts can last up to 23 hours a day and fuel costs have skyrocketed with the scrapping of state subsidies. Many have no income or winter heating

"Organised" gangs: according to residents and officials in Ainata and other mountain villages, they are felling centuries-old oak and juniper trees. Rahme, who scared off a group last autumn, said residents from "elsewhere" were responsible. The volunteers enjoy financial support – mainly from worried expatriate villagers sending money from abroad – to pay for fuel and vehicle maintenance

Measly budget: mayor of Barqa Ghassan Geagea readily admitted that the state allocated too little funds for environmental protection, thus limiting the local district's means to tackle the problem. Though grateful for the residents' initiative, he expressed doubts that the volunteer patrol would be able to prevent felling in harder-to-reach areas

"Environmental massacres": Paul Abi Rached, who heads activist group "Terre Liban", has decried the rise in illegal logging in Lebanon, sounding the alarm over the felling of juniper trees in particular. Lebanon has the largest juniper woods in the Middle East, according to the environment ministry, and is also home to pine, oak, cedar and fir forests

Essential for storing water: junipers are among "the few trees that can grow at high altitudes," said Abi Rached. What's more, they play a vital role in replenishing groundwater reserves. "Cutting down this tree is a crime. For me it's like killing a man," said 68-year-old doctor and activist Youssef Tawk in Bsharre, west of Ainata

500 years to maturity: "If we don't stop juniper felling, we will be heading for water shortages and drought," Rached warned. Meanwhile, activist Dany Geagea, no relation to the mayor of Barqa, has taken matters into his own hands by helping set up a juniper reserve. He said around 30,000 trees had been planted in the past two decades

Refugees help with reforestation: on the fertile plains of the Bekaa valley, once richly forested with Lebanon's trademark cedars, the Trees for Lebanon project is bringing refugees and locals together, empowering them to care for their environment and fostering dialogue between different cultures. The initiative is playing a vital role in integration, enabling female refugees to earn a living

Seed bombs for a greener future: implemented by the NGO Salam LADC, those working at Trees for Lebanon produce and distribute seed bombs charged with indigenous tree and plant species. In this way, they hope to transform the countryside