On Thursday, we delivered a massive blow to illegal wildlife crime during the peak autumn migration season. Working with our partners and with rapid support from the Internal Security Forces, we targeted a major trapping installation in Barja, Mount Lebanon.
Our joint operations team surveyed in the late morning and confirmed the site to be active earlier in the day. What we found was truly shocking: 15 massive mist nets stretching across approximately 500 meters, forming an industrial-scale trapping site capable of slaughtering over 1,000 migratory songbirds a day. The ground was littered with feathers from the morning’s catch.
Every single net and piece of equipment has now been removed, destroyed, and seized, in full coordination with the Internal Security Forces. This operation marks a major victory for the millions of birds migrating over Lebanon.
The Joint Operations Team of the Anti-Poaching Unit (MESHC–SPNL–CABS) carried out these missions in response to documented complaints from sustainable hunters in the Barja area, who reported large-scale illegal trapping activities.
The Lebanese-international team also visited Captain Toufic Kiwan, Commander of the Barja Police Station, to thank him and reaffirm their commitment to strengthening cooperation in combating bird massacres that harm both nature and the practice of responsible hunting.
A case file is being submitted against the landowner, and spot checks will continue throughout the season to ensure this destructive practice is permanently shut down.
Field teams will continue to closely monitor several locations where trapping activity is expected in the coming days and weeks.
International teams from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) — including experts from the UK, Germany, and Turkey — are joining forces with the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL) and the Middle East Sustainable Hunting Center (MESHC). Together, and in close coordination with the ISF and the Lebanese Army, they are monitoring key migratory bottlenecks, investigating trapping hotspots, and disrupting illegal practices such as the use of nets and limesticks across mountain passes, coastal areas, and the Beqaa Valley.
About the Anti-Poaching Unit (APU)
The APU is jointly operated by MESHC and SPNL. It is supported by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, in collaboration with BirdLife International and in partnership with CABS. All operations are carried out in close coordination with Lebanese authorities, including the Internal Security Forces, the Intelligence and Investigations Branch, and Military Intelligence. The work of the APU also contributes to the BioConnect Project a 45-month initiative funded by the EU running through October 2025.
