In less than 50 years, Lebanon has seen its trees gradually vanish. Whereas in 1965 around 35 percent of Lebanese territory was still covered by forests, today they cover not more than 80,000 hectares, or a mere seven percent of the country´s surface area. It is very likely that most of the remaining forests will disappear bit by bit over the next 15 to 20 years.
The typical Lebanese forest generally contains a variety of trees. It consists primarily of oaks, which represent some 55% of the forest cover; pines (12%), conifers (9%) and cedars (1%). However, a forest is much more than merely a dense growth of trees. It is a community of living beings, from the tiniest micro-organism to the great 1,000-year-old cedar, the country’s sole living witness to the cycle of life, death, and renewal.
Table of Contents
002/ Lebanon’s Forests
006/ The Situation Today
010/ The Mediterranean
012/ Imperial Domain
020/ The Cedar
026/ The Cedars of Bsharri
032/ The Cedars of the Chouf
038/ The Tannourine Reserve
044/ The Pine
052/ Jezzine
056/ Baabda
062/ Bentael
068/ The Qadisha Valley
072/ The Oak
074/ Jabal Qammou’a
080/ Nabi Khaled
086/ Ghabet al Azr
092/ Horsh Ehden
098/ Water
104/ The Soil
106/ The Art of Men
118/ Arboriculture
122/ Concrete Jungle
126/ Urbanization
134/ Oxygen
138/ Recycling
140/ Author’s Remarks
Bonus: DVD-Rom
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Author’s remarks
How does one photograph the energy that one senses in the middle of a forest? In approaching this project, I needed a visual guideline that would enable me to first feel the energy of a place before analyzing it. In nature, we instinctively feel the concepts of cycles, interaction, symbolism, and philosophy.
In the graphic composition of this project, I chose to proceed according to the proverb: “The sky is round, the Earth is square.”
Through this multimedia project I have aimed to portray our country’s forests. They are our natural heritage. We have put them in danger over the centuries, and we have inherited them in a state of advanced fragility.
We possess all the means and knowledge that are required to better manage our relationship with nature. Ecology is not just a profitable industry; it is also an industry of the future. By adopting a constructive and participative approach to nature, we can assure not only a better future for our children, but also more sustainable economic growth.
It is not so much private initiatives that are missing, but rather a true political, economic, and social awareness that is oriented towards the future. In fact, the issue is no longer one of long-term planning—it is time to take urgent action.
So citizens, on your marks, get set, plant!