By Faisal Abu-Izzeddine, agricultural engineer and protected area consultant, currently chairman of Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve Committee.
Like most Lebanese I lived thru countless regional and civil wars, however, it was my private war with bird hunters in 1972 that accelerated my career as a wildlife conservationist and advocate of protected areas. I am a farmer in the village of Abadieh who realized the important role that birds play if we want to grow clean food free of pesticides – so I put up signs around the farm that said Irham Al-Tayr. The local hunters were quick to respond and considered these signs an insult to their freedom to kill all birds anytime and anywhere. With their Kalashnikov rifles they riddled the signs with bullets to silence my call for mercy and preservation of life. For many years after that I tried to deal with the situation on my own. That taught me one of the most important lessons of my professional career – a single person, no matter how dedicated, cannot change things alone.
The same year as my signs were riddled with bullets in 1972, the UN Conference on the Environment was held in Stockholm that made the environment a major issue globally. Shortly after the UN Environment Program (UNEP) was established in Nairobi and later the regional office of UNEP for the Arab region was opened in Beirut and Bahrain. I joined that office in 1976 as regional advisor for conservation of nature and spent two years visiting Arab countries to promote the need for establishing protected areas to conserve plants, animals and humans. It was the first time such a task was attempted by the UN.
In Lebanon by the early 1990s and despite years of civil war, there was an environmental awakening. Clubs such as Green Line (Shadi Hamady), SPNL (Asaad Serhal), Friends of Horsh Ehden (Ricardo Habr) and others were established and played a leading role in promoting environmental issues and the creation of a Ministry of Environment. These clubs, as well as prominent scientists, lobbied UNDP, GEF and IUCN to develop and fund a project to save what was left of our natural environment. Thus in 1993 UNDP asked me to conduct a mission to write a proposal to establish demonstration protected areas in Lebanon for possible funding by the GEF. During that mission, and in the company of Asaad Serhal, we visited numerous areas in Lebanon and consulted closely with the new MOE.
The areas chosen for protection were the Shouf Cedars in Mt. Lebanon, and in the North Horsh Ehden and the Palm Islands. The challenges were many but we were able to overcome most of the difficulties thanks to staff we hired and the help of the MOE and its Minister Akram Shehayeb. Thus the Protected Areas Project was born: it trained staff, purchased equipment, prepared individual Management Plans and provided vehicles and a boat.
That was 28 years ago. Since then some of these PAs have done well. The Shouf performed best and shortly after its inception the area was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. This was a great step forward because now the management of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve (covering nearly 5% the area of Lebanon) was able to focus on a Zone for protection, a Buffer Zone for limited use such as walking trails and a Development Zone which included villages and privately-owned land around the reserve.
However, the time has come to introduce a system of land use to support the protected area system in Lebanon. It is called the Hima system which, thanks to the efforts of SPNL and the popular appeal of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve, many villages are now reviving this ancient Arab system of land management. It combines the protection and use of land for the benefit of local communities, under local management, to conserve natural resources for the benefit of everyone.
The Hima system is not just for government and municipal lands but includes private land as well. It is time to take serious responsibility for the land we own. Ownership is not a privilege but a serious responsibility, that goes beyond hiding private land deeds in safe boxes. Unfortunately, most young people today do not know anything about the land they own – such as its location and what needs to be done to maintain it. All they know is the price they are willing to sell – before knowing its true value.
The Hima system will allow us to understand the harmful effects of fragmentation of the landscape due to generations of family inheritance practices that choke agriculture and wildlife corridors. Himas teach us how to avoid forest fires and how to manage them. Himas are ideal locations for picnic areas where families gather to eat in the fresh air. And much more.
We hope you enjoy reading the Magazine
Al-Hima-Magazine-Issue-No.-4
