SPNL Launched the 2nd edition of the Arabic Print annually Magazine, “Al Hima.” The edition will be hitting newsstands this week and featuring several topics, including the efforts done by SPNL in its 40th anniversary.

Commenting on the launching, SPNL Director and Birdlife International Global Councillor Assad Serhal said, “For our 2nd AlHima magazine edition with special focus on Homat Al-hima is now published, much thanks to Raghida Haddad, the Editor in Chief, for such a great edition. Our thanks also go to our SPNL lifetime partnership with IUCN. This edition is co-funded by IUCN and SRT, our SPNL program funder. The 3rd edition will focus on another very important SPNL Hima program, the Hima trails “Dorob Alhima,” starting with the planned devoted workshop for Droub Al-Hima with 8 municipalities on the 27th of September 2023.

According to the Editor-in-Chief, the veteran environmental journalist Raghida Haddad. “This year, SPNL celebrates its 40th anniversary, coinciding with IUCN’s 75th anniversary. 30 years ago, in 1993, SPNL became the first IUCN national partner in Lebanon. This issue of Al Hima is published in partnership with IUCN, highlighting its major contributions to protecting nature and species, especially in the Arab region, through its Regional Office for West Asia (IUCN ROWA). It also focuses on Homat Al Hima (Hima guardians), local heroes SPNL trains and supports to protect nature and resources. They are village youth, school, and university students whom SPNL trains and provides them with support and advice to protect nature and its resources and preserve the species. Among them are also farmers who practice organic and sustainable methods, artisans who preserve the heritage of their ancestors, and women who make “Mouneh” products. The municipality, activists, and researchers who monitor forests, rivers, and wildfires”, Haddad Added.

The Hima is a traditional system of resource tenure that has been practiced for more than 1400 years in the Arabian Peninsula. It is the most widespread and longstanding indigenous/traditional conservation institution in the Middle East and perhaps on Earth! The Arabic word “hima” means “a protected area”. In pre-Islamic times, access to this place was declared forbidden by the individual or group who owned it. Later, its meaning evolved to signify a rangeland reserve, a piece of land set aside seasonally to allow regeneration. This publication introduces readers to the concept of this traditional system and brings insights into the revived use of this indigenous institution.

Weighing in at 100 pages, The second issue, which has a September 2023 date, contains the following interviews and articles: SPNL on Its 40th Anniversary: Reviving Himas and Engaging the Youth 4 (editorial by Assad Serhal); Conserving Biodiversity and Enhancing the Development of Local Communities (editorial by Dr. Hany El Shaer) ; Numbers Talk, from IUCN Red List ; SPNL News ; Homat Al Hima (cover story) ; How to Create a Hima ; How to Open a Trail ; A Day in the Life of a Shepherd ; IUCN in 75 Years ; Healthy Ecosystems for Rangelands Development (HERD) ; Smart Desert: Supporting Agricultural Entrepreneurs; IUCN Red List; Protected Areas, Biodiversity and World Heritage; Water and Climate Change; Join IUCN Membership!; Let’s Work Together to Face Environmental Challenges (by Fadi Ghanem); Wadi Lovers in Oman; Memories of Ras El Matn; The Cherry Blossom: Relating Japanese Satoyama to Lebanese Hima (by Miho Shirai); Himas of Lebanon; Together We Save the Litani River; A Night in Mount Hermon; Bird Migration in Lebanon; APU: Bird’s Friend, Poacher’s Foe; Terhal Trek: Journey of a Lifetime; Asaad Adel Serhal Wildlife Photography Prize; Homat Al Hima News, Hima Market.
The new magazine shares the same views as spnl.org, the website launched by SPNL in 2008 to serve as its online home. In utilizing the Alhima name, the new magazine will also have more freedom in linking back and forth between the print and online destinations.

We hope you enjoy reading the Magazine