Commander Shams El Din receives SPNL Anti Poaching Unit

Adonis Al-Khatib, president of the Middle East Sustainable Hunting Center – MESHC and director of the responsible hunting portfolio at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL) and editor in chief of Sayd Magazine, and the head of the antipoaching unit (APU), Sherine Bou Rafoul, paid a visit on Friday, November 13, 2020, to the Commander of the Southern Region in the Internal Security Forces Brigadier General Ghassan Shams El-Din, to thank him for his efforts and cooperation with the unit in combating hunting violations that do a disservice to the ethics of the hobby and to nature, especially his directions about holding accountable the snipers who committed the crime of killing a crane in the south.
His Excellency the Brigadier General emphasized the continuation of cooperation and coordination and the implementation of the directives of the Director-General of the Internal Security Forces, Major General Imad Othman, in strictly suppressing violations and protecting society and the environment. He thanked the unit for its efforts aimed at protecting migratory birds and protecting the hobby of hunting.

For his part, Al-Khatib stressed the commitment of the responsible hunter to his duty to protect nature and the hobby of hunting and pointed to the great role played by the Public Relations Division and its head, Colonel Joseph Musallam, in cooperation with the leaders of the respective regions under clear directions from Major General Othman. This has borne fruit in a great result in reducing the killing of migratory birds and hunting on nets. With the confirmation of international organizations, most notably the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), which, for a period of four years, has set up camps in Lebanon for monitoring and combating random hunting in partnership with SPNL and MESHC with the complete support of the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces (ISF).

Bou Raffoul also explained the unit’s plan to combat nighttime hunting on lit trees, which causes annihilation to game and does a disservice to the pastime of hunting, and stressed that the sustainable Lebanese hunter does not commit a crime against his pastime, and for this, we insist on mobilizing all hunters to protect the hobby from the futility and greed of poachers who have not yet attained the rank of hunters.

After the meeting, Bou Raffoul presented a certificate of thanks and appreciation from the center and from SPNL to the brigadier general, as a token of loyalty to the joint work being done.

It is worth noting that the anti-poaching activities in Lebanon is held in partnership and cooperation between MESHC and SPNL on the one hand, and between SPNL and the Migratory Soaring Bird (MSB) Project funded by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) and the anti-poaching project funded by MAVA on the other hand.