A last stand for the cedars of Lebanon

Hamida Ghafour in the National (United Arab Emirates): By this time of year the heavy layers of snow over Mount Lebanon should be beginning to melt into cold springs that nourish the purplish-green cedar cones buried in the dark, damp earth. But something is wrong. Lebanon has experienced an unseasonably warm winter and very little rain or snow has fallen. Instead of the five or six metres of deep snow that should have blanketed the steep mountains of the Shouf region located south-east of Beirut there has been perhaps 5-12cm.

Scientists and nature conservationists blame climate change and are increasingly concerned about the impact of warmer weather on the Lebanese cedar trees which need long, cold winters to survive and thrive.

…[T]he Lebanese cedar is under threat. A combination of little snow, sawfly infestations and forest fires, all blamed on global warming, have thrown the natural rhythm of Mediterranean winters off balance.

“Climate change has a major environmental significance and, of course, the cedar is what makes Lebanon. If you look at a map of the Arab world Lebanon is the only patch of green,” says Wael Hmaidan, executive director of Indy Act, a non-profit organisation in Beirut which examines the impact of climate change on the region.
There are only 2,000 hectares of the Lebanese cedar left in the country, concentrated in the Shouf and the Tannourine area in northern Lebanon. About 90 per cent is protected by law and cared for by the ministry of environment.

…Environmentalists say the government needs to invest more in conserving Lebanon’s natural heritage. There was a public outcry over plans to build a man-made island off the coast of Beirut, near Damour, which will be similar to the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. Inevitably, perhaps, the Lebanese version is called Cedar Island. Noor International Holding, the company behind the US$8 billion (Dh29.38b) project, says on its website it is carrying out an environmental feasibility study. It has not yet received government permission to begin building, but the blogosphere is full of criticism despite the 50,000 jobs that are expected to be created….

Al Shouf Nature Reserve in Lebanon