In Lebanon, the causes of deforestation are practically all related to human activities, namely massive and chaotic urbanization and fires. But the problem is not new: “we talk a lot about the war and the after-war periods but we tend to forget that a big wave of deforestation took place during the First World War when armies needed a large quantity of logs and this has continued ever since …” declares Ali Darwiche, President of the ecological association Green Line and consultant at the German technical cooperation agency (GTZ).

“Today,” continues Mr. Darwiche, “the main causes of deforestation are the non-regulated exploitation of sand quarries (a sector the state is stalling to organize knowing that the law forbids such exploitation in wooded terrain), making fire wood (the price of oil for heating being constantly on the rise) and chaotic urban development. Only recently was a national plan for the classification of lands set up but it has not yet been implemented. One example, among others, is the Choueifate Plain (Southern Mount Lebanon) that used to be covered with olive trees and is now 90% cemented. All regions have been hit with fast urbanization that changes the physiognomy and use of land.”