In cooperation with the Litani River Authority (LRA) and with the support of the Agence Francaise pour la Developpement (AFD), The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL)  is spearheading a project that aims to use cattle manure to create grade A compost. Farmers can either use the compost in their agricultural activities or otherwise sell it if they do not need it themselves. This project is thus beneficial to the local farmers and also helps mitigate the pollution of the Litani River and the Quraon Lake.

The project team held a training session on thermal composting at the authority’s headquarters in the village of Khirbet Qanafar.

Speaking at the session, engineer Naseem Abu Hamad, representing LRA Director-General Dr. Sami Alawieh, emphasized the LRA’s strict commitment to protecting the Litani Basin from any kind of pollution and gave vivid examples of projects undertaken by the LRA.

In his speech, the director of the Homat Al Hima International Center, Waseem Khatib, stressed the importance of the existing partnership between SPNL and the LRA, SPNL’s role, both practical and academic, in development projects in the region, especially those that help spread environmental awareness of the surrounding community.

After that SPNL’s environmental expert, Maher Osta, gave a detailed explanation of the practical reasons that lead to water pollution as a result of cow dung being thrown in the river and gave scientific solutions and a detailed study of how to thermally compost cow dung and its material benefit to farm owners and farmers on the one hand, and its ecological benefit to the Litani River basin on the other.

The meeting was attended by a number of agricultural engineers and owners of cattle farms along the river. At the conclusion of the meeting, the attendees signed a document of honor that obliges them morally and legally to abide by the scientific and environmental procedures in this field.