SPNL recently started the implementation of an outreach program targeting hunters in Lebanon as part of the “Capacity Development for Flyway Conservation in the Mediterranean”, a project executed in collaboration with BirdLife International and funded by the MAVA Foundation.
SPNL’s work mainly includes the reduction of illegal hunting and threats to migratory birds by developing a special training course in Arabic for hunters based on the information in the Hunter’s Guide prepared by SPNL. The main themes covered are safety, Hunting law & decrees, Game species & their identification, Importance of Lebanon to birds & conservation issues. This would help hunters in passing the exam mandated by the hunting law 580 in order to acquire the hunter license from the Ministry of Environment. In addition, SPNL is using various social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube…) as well as SPNL’s own website,and launching an Arabic interactive website targeting hunters in Lebanon titled “Sayd” in order to reach the 500,000 hunters in Lebanon. On the other hand, SPNL is engaging with the energy sector in an attempt to reduce the negative impacts on migratory birds from the potential development of wind farms in Northern Lebanon. Finally, SPNL is working on conserving key stop-over and non-breeding sites for migratory soaring birds.
