Homat Al Hima Training on Flora and Fauna identification

As part of the series of trainings that SPNL is conducting under Homat Al Hima, the 6th training on Flora and Fauna identification took place on Saturday May 21st, 2016 within the EU funded project “Enhancing livelihoods of Local Lebanese communities in Hima territories; from social, economical and natural prespectives”. The training workshop took place in Al Hima center located in the village of Kfar Zabad, with the attendance of 21 participants from the local communities of both Anjar and Kfar Zabad.

The main objectives of the training were as follows:

1. Know what to look for when identifying fauna in field

2. Know the common fauna in Anjar /Kfar Zabad Area

3. Ability to identify fauna by tracking footprints and scats

4. Comprehend plants/flora

5. Learn basic flora anatomy

6. Know what to search for plant/flora identification

7. Acquaintance to basic sketching for flora identification

HHtraining 1

At the beginning of the day, participants were given out handouts with images of the expected fauna species to be seen during the field work and were introduced to the different species. Afterwards, Dr. Ghassan Jaradi; expert in Eco-Ornithology and SPNL’s consultant, started explaining the difference between each species and what to look for or focus on during their identification. Later on binoculars were distributed to participants, and they all moved towards Kfar Zabad’s wetland, where they were able to spot different fauna species.

After having a traditional lunch, they learned about the basic tools and equipment required on field for flora identification. The participants were also taught about the basic terminology used during flora identification. At the end of the day, participants moved towards the field to start identifying and applying what they have learned earlier.