The Migratory Soaring Birds project -Lebanon closed its activities on the 30th of June 2015. An internal final small workshop was held on the 25th of June in Beirut, Coral Beach Hotel, to share the main project achievements and to launch the hunting exams software.
The workshop was attended by Luca Renda – UNDP country Director, Assad Serhal – SPNL Director General , Lara Semah – Head of Department of Ecosystems at the Ministry of Environment, Saleem Hamadeh – National Project Manager, Imad Salman- Silicon Computer systems, and representatives of Hunting and shooting Club, and Syndicates of Merchants of Hunting Weapons in Lebanon.
Participants in the workshop representing all responsible and key-players in the sector of hunting considered that the establishment of Lebanese Responsible Hunting Areas-RHAs an attempt to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best available science where the area should be of certain size to ensure hunting security, within the carrying capacity limitation and the presence of the most searched game species on the site.
Participants also agreed that the hunting exams software is the final practical steps which will lead to the full implementation of the Law No. 580 – organizing hunting System in Lebanon- which was issued in 2004, and this will hopefully allow the Ministry of Environment to open the hunting season in Autumn 2015.
The Migratory Soaring Birds project aims to integrate conservation management objectives into targeted public and private sectors in 11 countries along the Rift Valley / Red Sea flyway.
MSB Lebanon is hosted by the Ministry of Environment. It is technically supported by BirdLife’s partner in Lebanon, the Society for Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL).
MSB Lebanon has established a strategic partnership with the Higher Hunting Council (HHC). Through this alliance MSB Lebanon plays a crucial role in the management of the hunting sector by setting the foundations for the implementation of the new hunting law, and therefore ensuring that the conservation of soaring birds is firmly integrated and enforced within the legislation.
