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27.9%ANMag Issue 27 Global Awareness
Restoration and Conservation of Sensitive Forest Areas in Lebanon Project
By Sawsan Bou Fakhreddine, General Director of AFDC (Speech)
Beirut, Lebanon, April 04, 2008 – " We are gathered here today for the closure of the project titled “Restoration and Conservation of Sensitive Forest Areas in Lebanon” and the launching of the first national report on forests in Lebanon. We will also introduce our new project for titled “Management and Sustainable Development of Forest Areas in Andket Akkar in North Lebanon”.
We announce the end of the project “Restoration and Conservation of Sensitive Forest Areas in Lebanon” that AFDC implemented in partnership with WWF Italy and funded by the ROSS program of the Italian Cooperation. The project targeted 9 villages in Jezzine and Arkoub regions of South Lebanon. Within this project, AFDC was able to reforest more than 50 hectares of damaged lands in the target regions and to equip more than 120 volunteers with forest fire fighting equipment. The project also involved training of 120 volunteers from the target areas, in addition to 120 forest guards and civil defense personnel from various regions in Lebanon. Moreover, two fire trucks were fully equipped and provided to the municipalities in Jezzine and Arkoub.
Further, through this project, and based on previously established collaborations with various ministries, AFDC was able to sign memorandums of understanding with each of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Interior. The memorandums’ aim was to strengthen cooperation and coordination in the management of forest fires.
Today, AFDC launches the pioneer “State of Lebanon’s Forests” report that was the result of extensive effort and support of several partners. The report sheds the light on the various environmental, economical and sociological aspects of forests management in Lebanon. This report provides baseline information that will serve as a reference for the evaluation and monitoring of the general forests status and the impact of different projects and programmes implemented at the local and national level on Lebanon’s forestry sector.
The project witnessed the disastrous fires of October and November 2007, which destroyed more than 3,000 hectares of forests and agricultural lands. This figure is equivalent to an area twice as that of Beirut and three times what was reforested during the last 17 years. The severe impact of these unfortunate events urged the Lebanese government to formulate the ministerial committee whose duty is to monitor forest fire prevention activities and design an early forest fire intervention plan. Consequently, the National Executive and Technical Forest Fire Prevention and Forest Restoration Committee, in which AFDC is a member, were established. Thus, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry of Environment and AFDC, to develop and implement a national plan for forest fire fighting with local and international partners.
This was accompanied with the launching of the National Awareness Campaign for Forest Fires “El Harka bil Qaleb”, under the patronage of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and in partnership with the Ministry of Environment. This ongoing campaign has reflected the high degree of involvement of the Lebanese institutions, universities, schools and individuals in the restoration of forests and in the limitation of the forest fires impact. In fact, individual donations have exceeded one hundred thousand US dollars, while projects funded from international organization, particularly the Lebanon Recovery Fund (LRF), the EU and Italian Cooperation have exceeded three million US dollars.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It was just yesterday that we lost millions of trees. During this last reforestation season that ended March 2008, we were only able to plant around 75 thousand trees in spite of all available efforts and resources. Therefore, to restore what was burnt in one season many years and massive human and financial resources are to be provided.
Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that the best way to fight forest fires is through their prevention. Hence, we have to double our efforts on all levels especially since the forest fire season for this year is around the corner and the preparations for fire fighting on the national and local level are still under preparation.
Finally, I would like to thank WWF Italy, AFDC’s chief strategic partner in the conservation of forests for years, for awarding AFDC with its 2008 prestigious and global Award for Conservation Merit, which is granted to all local initiatives in this domain around the Mediterranean.
To end with, on behalf of AFDC’s executive committee and team, I would like to thank:
The Italian Government through the Italian Cooperation Development Program
The ROSS program staff
The different ministries and participating agencies in the National Executive and Technical Forest Fire Prevention and Forest Restoration Committee
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
The Hans Seidal Foundation
All municipalities, civil defense centers and forest guards in sensitive areas
GREY Worlwide Company
Voyager printing company
All private institutions that participated and that are still collaborating in Lebanese forests protection and conservation
Every teacher, university or school student that participated in the campaign"