Wings & Waves Newsletter November 2015

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Wings & Waves - SPNL's Newsletter
As a national environmental NGO in Lebanon, SPNL contributes to both raising awareness on environmental issues and concretely protecting natural areas in Lebanon. For their amazing effort, SPNL was named a finalist for the Equator Prize 2015.

SPNL recognised as a finalist for the Equator Prize 2015

The Equator Prize is awarded biennially to recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions for people, nature and resilient communities. As local and indigenous groups across the world chart a path towards sustainable development, the Equator Prize shines a spotlight on their efforts by honoring them on an international stage.

The Hima approach has been revived by SPNL to protect nature, birds and biodiversity in Lebanon and to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources through community based managed areas. Many international NGOs have adopted the Hima concept for being an approach for protecting natural resources through involving the communities, that have proven success on environmental, cultural, social, and economic level.

Six Himas in Jordan, Cyprus, and Greece through the Medscapes project

Hima approach is now adopted by European countries in order to strengthen community involvement in managing protected areas such as SPA, Natura 2000, and UNESCO geoparks. This is a new milestone for the revival of the Hima approach.

After 3 years of hard work, determination and success, the project “Promoting Hima Women Empowerment for Conservation and Livelihood” funded by the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality has come to an end. The closing ceremony took place on the 6th of November, 2015 in the beautiful city of Anjar that brought together a large number of people including local and national authorities, local and surrounding community members, donors, NGOs and especially women.

Closing Event of the UN Women Project and Opening of Kiosk in Anjar

This ceremony was led by an official religious opening to commemorate the initiative under the UN Women project in the presence of the Mayor of Anjar as well as Mrs. Rana El-Houjeiri. The “Hima Shop” or “دكانة حمى عنجر” will serve as an outlet to market ‘Souk El Hima’ products made by the women throughout the project.

SPNL organized a Bedouin Festival in Hima Anjar and Kfarzabad highlighting the Bedouin style of life. The festival was attended by HE the wife of the German ambassador to Lebanon, Asaad Serhal, SPNL Director General, the Hima manager, and members of Kfarzabad municipality.

Hima Kfarzabad hosts the Bedouin Festival

ew words explaining the value of the festival were held by Hima Kfarzabad manager, Mr. Kasem Shoker, thanking the visitors, especially the German Ambassador wife, for their participation and appreciation to the Bedouin way of living held for thousands of years, thanking the tribes for their presence. He talked about the importance of the Hima and he thanked SPNL and the EU for their generous assistance.

SPNL educational program SNOW- School with No Walls, aims to raise awareness about the Hima IBAs and KBA, species and ecosystems through the hands on program, and learning through fun. The SNOW program is a vertical and traversal part for all SPNL projects and programmes.

School with No Walls in Hima Kafarzabad

The participating schools were: the Kfarzabad public school with 40 students, the Arab public school of Kfarzabad with 25 students, followed by the Evangelical school of Anjar with 49 students. 114 students arrived, followed by the children of the Arab tribe clan leaders and the women working with the Zarb, food and wool, counting about 26 kids. A total about 140 kids, school students and Bedouin kids, participated in the program.

For the first time in long years, Anjar and the whole Lebanese lands faced a suffocating sandy storm weather, lasting for a full week and reducing the color of nature, changing it to yellow.

Khajag strawberries in Anjar

Still, the strawberries of Khajag shine with their beautiful glowing red, hiding below the leaves, and spreading to cover more than five times the surface planted. We visited the site during the mid of September and scoped the strawberry plants, seeing how beautiful they were, how appealing and according to my friend, how tasteful they are.

 
As a part of the MAVA project restoring hima functions through promoting sustainable community-based management systems, SPNL is finalizing the rehabilitation of the ecotourism trail which will serve as a major income booster for the site.

Rehabilitation of the ecotourism trail in Hima Anjar and Kfarzabad Himas

Different trail are being currently implemented to highlight the nature and culture values of Anjar -Kfarzabad sites.

Sbidag Demirigian a young leader from Hima Anjar, who had the chance to represent her country in the Design for Change Celebration that took place in Mexico in September 2015. Sbidag was selected by the Design for Change Lebanon, for her inspiring project “More Sun Less Pollution” which highlights the creation of solar heater from waste products.

A Hima Young Leader Recognized Globally

‘Be The Change’ (BTC) celebrations is a huge event that provides young super heros from across the world with the platform to showcase their stories of change in their countries.

Under the title ; “Innovative natural solutions: Motivating change” The 8th Regional Conservation Forum (RCF) was be held in Amman, Jordan from the 10th – 12th November, 2015.

SPNL Participates at IUCN Regional Forum of Conservation

The Regional Conservation Forum (RCF) aims at providing governments, NGOs, partners and the private sector a platform to engage; to discuss key conservation issues as well as provide an opportunity to prepare for an effective programme and discuss membership business.

Birds are among the best studied species in the world, making them great messengers for the effects of climate change.

The Messengers – what birds tell us about the threats from climate change

As world leaders gather in Paris to negotiate a global climate change agreement at the UN COP21 summit, a new report, jointly published by BirdLife International and US Partner the National Audubon Society, details the global severity of the threats from climate change.

Mike Clarke explains why campaigning to protect the common good has always been at the heart of the RSPB’s activities.

Why we ruffle feathers

WHAT WOULD YOU think about a charity that primarily devotes its resources to legislative campaigning, enforcement and prosecutions?

19 November is World Toilet Day, a day to take action and raise awareness about people who do not have access to basic sanitation – despite the human right to water and sanitation.

World Toilet Day: A Global ‘Urgent Run’ to Raise a Stink for Sanitation

Today 2.4 billion people do not have access to a basic toilet. Almost 1 billion people still defecate in the open. Without good sanitation, women and children are particularly at risk of disease and malnutrition.

From parades to soccer matches, school debates, and the lighting up of hundreds of iconic monuments, starting tomorrow a United Nations call to “Orange the World” will galvanize global action calling for an end to violence against women and girls, which affects one in three worldwide.

Spotlighting prevention, “Orange the World” kicks off global efforts to end violence against women and girls

Unifying the large-scale social mobilization and global events will be the use of the colour orange, which has come to symbolize a bright and optimistic future free from violence against women and girls. The call to action is part of the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, led by UN Women.

A third of the world’s women have experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime, most by intimate partners. However, a staggering six in every ten survivors of violence remain silent rather than seek support or protection.

UN Women launches the 16 days campaign against gender-based violence in the Arab Region

In the Arab region, negative social stereotypes and patriarchy impose a culture of silence and fear on women survivors of violence. As a result, many perpetrators of violence against women go unpunished.

The world is losing one of the main breeding colonies of the Humboldt Penguin in Central Chile. CODEFF (BirdLife in Chile) is taking action now on Isla Pájaro Niño de Algarrobo and needs your help.

 

Let’s Save The Humboldt Penguin

Your support will allow CODEFF to address threats at this Important Bird and Biodiversity Area through training local fishermen and other community members in ecotourism, invasive species control, and bird monitoring.

The IUCN Red List has added the Balkan Lynx to its Red List as a Critically Endangered subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx.

 

Balkan Lynx added to the IUCN list as Critically Endangered

This is a very real confirmation that the Balkan Lynx requires urgent and coordinated conservation actions in order to increase its population in the wild.

The Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita has had an eventful and turbulent relationship with humans that has resulted in a graph of its population decline that matches its iconic red down-curved beak.

 

 

Record breeding success for Critically Endangered Northern Bald Ibis

But latest breeding successes resulting from work of BirdLife Partners and the Government of Morocco gives hope for a harmonious relationship again in the future.

When you achieve results, working hard becomes a joy in Qoleileh

The following is a short film highlighting hand-made accessories and art work of Hima women in Qoleileh using material linked to nature. These skills have been revived by SPNL under the project “Promoting Hima Women Empowerment for Conservation and Livelihood” funded by the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality.

 

When the Hima is within your hands, you can stretch more than the length of your carpet in Fekha

The following is a short film highlighting the art of carpet weaving in Fekha. This skill was slowly being lost until SPNL decided to revive this skill with the help of an old woman in the village that still acquires this skill and trained 30 other women in nearby villages. This initiative was made possible under the project “Promoting Hima Women Empowerment for Conservation and Livelihood” funded by the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality.

 

Time does not go to waste: Hima Anjar understands the value of time

The following is a short film highlighting the artistic Armenian needlework present in the village of Anjar. These cultural and traditional skills are linked to nature and are being revived by SPNL through the project “Promoting Hima Women Empowerment for Conservation and Livelihood” funded by the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality.

 

With the Support of MAVA foundation

 

Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon – SPNL
Email: news@spnl.org
Web: http://www.spnl.org
Tel/Fax: 00961 1 343 740 / 00961 1 344 814 / 00961 1 748308
Address: Awad Bldg, 6th Floor, Abdel Aziz Street, P.O.Box: 11-5665, Beirut, Lebanon