You are lying in bed still awake after two hours. Sleep will not come to you. Your boss has asked you to do something impossible at work; you know you will fail. You've been in a fight with your significant other and wonder if the two of you will break up. You just had a car accident after a truck full of goats drifted over the line and sideswiped you. Beiruti car horns light up the night, drivers unaware that honking does not get them there faster. Tick tock tick tock tick...
Get away from it all. Strap on your hiking boots and take advantage of Lebanon's natural beauty. Give your lungs a vacation from the pollution. It's time to be an ecotourist!
Where to start? Why not hike some of the 491km Lebanon Mountain Trail? Learn about Lebanon's literary history on the Baskinta Literary Trail. How about heading to the village of Ehmej to visit some of the feeder trails to the LMT and the new Forest Conservation Center? Need a trail guide? Check out organized hikes with Baldati or Esprit Nomade.
Ecotourism is a rapidly growing industry in Lebanon and has the potential to employ thousands of rural workers and create many new businesses in areas outside the urban glare of the nation's capital. And guess what? Trekking through the mountains is good for your health! So get out there! Live life! Enjoy Lebanon!
Look closely at this photo. (Click it to make it larger if you need to.) What do you see? The beautiful candy blue waters of the Mediterranean? Look closer. See those dark spots in the water? Those are plastic bags. Disgusting enough that there are folks who care so little about life that they don't mind trashing the planet, but there's more to this photo. That's Lebanese trash on the coast of Cyprus.
How do I know it's from Lebanon? Well, as I was walking these beautiful beaches over the long weekend and came across this horrific sight, my immediate thought was "I bet that's from Lebanon." So I looked. I looked at many of the bags, bags in Arabic, bags in English with the words "Beirut," "Hamra," and "Saida" printed on them.
Boy, if I were a Cypriot, I'd be pretty angry. Maybe I'd be demanding my government to cut relations with this filthy neighboring country whose trash washes upon my shores until they do something about it. Ok, maybe that's a little extreme. But at least I'd be pressuring for the EU to give money to Lebanon for anti-littering campaigns and clean up the garbage dumps campaigns and such.
Where are the Lebanese NGOs working on campaigns to limit plastic bag use? Where is anyone telling people to think about their use of plastic bags? Where are calls for a plastic bag tax? They work! On January 1 of this year, Washington DC instituted a 5 cent plastic bag tax. As a result, according to a March 29th article in the Washington Post:
In its first assessment of how the new law is working, the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue estimates that city food and grocery establishments issued about 3.3 million bags in January, which suggests a remarkable decrease. Prior to the bag tax taking effect Jan 1, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer had estimated that about 22.5 million bags were being issued per month in 2009.
That's progress. People bring their own bags to the grocery. When I tried to bring my own cloth bag to supermarket Idriss in Hamra yesterday, some guy at the door tried to take it from me and told me I couldn't bring it into the store. I argued and finally won, but it shouldn't be a battle. It should be normal.
This is 2010. The planet's running in crisis mode. It's time for people to start thinking about the consequences of their actions, even things that seem so trivial like the bags you use to carry your groceries. We need to work on this!
Rain poured from the sky onto the perilous mountain roads as the car climbed higher and higher into a Lebanon new to me. The main road to the village of Ehmej was unpaved and under construction and very, very narrow with no barrier between the crumbling edge of the road and the steep drop off to the valley below. Even the beauty of the vineyard-lined mountains could not prevent me from closing my eyes. But it was all worth it.
The road led to the opening of the Ehmej Forest Center. This new center will increase the Ehmej municipality’s capacity and will focus on the protection, conservation, and growth of the forests in Ehmej and the surrounding area as well as provide a community gathering place. There are 12 hiking trails which connect Ehmej to the Lebanon Mountain Trail and other natural places of interest. The center will serve as a focal point for ecotourism in the area. It will hold 30 beds and host a full kitchen for group activities.
The opening ceremony was held in Ehmej before the group headed out to see the forest center. Among the speakers at the ceremony were the Mayor of Ehmej and Nada Zaarour, President of the Association for Forests, Development, and Conservation. Ambassador Michelle Sison represented the United States, who provided the funding for the center through the Department of Defense Humanitarian Assistance Program.
Ecotourism is a rapidly growing industry in Lebanon and a great way to bring economic development to areas outside of Beirut, areas which have not seen the level of prosperity enjoyed by many in the capital city. Indeed, some parts of Lebanon are like a whole other country, where poverty and illiteracy reign the lives of the people like other third world countries. Educated and prosperous Beirutis tend to overlook the fact that not all of Lebanon shares their good fortune.
But maybe they can in the near future. Ecotourism generates income into small communities – visitors spend money in local businesses like hotels and restaurants, as well as buy locally made handicrafts and other products.
In addition to the economic benefits, the center will help to create a culture of environmental appreciation by educating youth about environmental problems and solutions that are good for all of Lebanon. And who knows? A little wilderness without the distractions of daily living can go a long way in bringing folks a peaceful state of mind...
Fire is one of the four elements of being, according to ancient classical elemental systems used by the Greeks, Hindis, and Japanese thinkers, among others. You know, they weren't far off, especially when it comes to forest fires.
Forest fires are raging across Lebanon right now as a heat wave inundates the country. The fires have become quite common in a country historically famed for its trees, as Lebanon loses an average of 1,200 hectares of forest land annually to forest fires. Most people these days probably know that there is a connection between the increasing numbers of forest fires across the globe and climate change that affects our planet, but do you know why?
Researchers have determined that increases in the frequency of forest fires are strongly linked to annual spring and summer temperatures and to the timing of spring snowmelt. Less snowmelt means longer, drier summers, creating conditions ripe for wildfires, which are more often than not caused by human carelessness or even deliberate destruction. The fires have no rain water to stop them, only air to spread them and let them breathe, feeding them, fueling them, swallowing whole the famed Cedars of Lebanon and anything else which dares stand in their paths.
The Association for Forests, Development and Conservation is a leading civil society organization in Lebanon on the cause of fighting forest fires and preserving the nation's forests. Please take some time to visit their website and see what you can do to prevent forest fires in Lebanon!
On a directly related note, on Saturday, October 24th, please join 170 countries in what may be the largest issue-oriented gathering the planet has ever seen. People all over the globe will be gathering to take a stand for our future. Visit 350.org to find a gathering near you. Or use this handy convenient cool little map they provided!
Science has yet to find a way to physically transport humans back in time, but that doesn't mean there aren't scientific ways to learn about the past. Indeed, what we are learning from the past will directly affect our future. Ice core samples in Antarctica allow us to see hundreds of thousands of years into the past and may be the key to our survival as a species.
Scientists have analyzed these ice core samples and concluded that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has never been as high as it has been since we began the Industrial Revolution. 100% of peer reviewed articles by climate scientists show us the Earth's atmosphere is heating up. Given that, it's tough to believe there are people out there fighting against efforts to combat climate change.
But there are.
That's why it is up to those of us who don't "believe in" science but understand it to be reality must do all we can to teach the world the facts about climate change. This Blog Action Day is one small thing each of us can do to promote awareness. Individual blogs all over the world may be quiet voices, but taken together they are a loud shout telling global citizens that it is up to all of us to take action against this threat to our species.
Read what Lebanese bloggers are saying about climate change. The list is quite impressive:
William Kamkwamba from Malawi couldn't afford school fees and had to drop out at age 14. That didn't stop him from learning. He checked out a book on windmills from the local library and decided to build one himself. Watch his aspiring story.
The whole world could learn a lesson from William. While Lebanon has its rationed electricity and its frequent blackouts, William's family has electricity in a small African village using nothing but wind. Are there innovators out there in Lebanon who could replicate William's success?
Join IndyAct on the 25th and 26th of October in Cinema Metropolis Empire Sofil at 6 pm for a public viewing of the climate change film "The Age of Stupid."
The Age of Stupid is a 90-minute film about climate change, set in the future. Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off) stars as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking back at footage from 2007 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?
Confirm your attendance on Facebook here, or just show up to the theater. And don't forget to visit IndyAct.org to see all of the great things they are doing to combat climate change.
Americans who grew up in the seventies and eighties no doubt remember Woodsy Owl, a mascot with a message. Woodsy was the brainchild of a National Park ranger who came up with the idea to combat litter, first at National Parks, then across the nation.
By the time Woodsy was born, however, America's fight against litter and pollution was already in full force. Keep America Beautiful was established in 1953 and is one of the most successful non-profit organizations in history. Not only did they manage to convince governments to impose stiff fines for littering, but they instilled a nationwide consciousness - a pride even - about littering through public awareness campaigns and educational programs. If you were born in the second half of the 20th century, anti-littering programs were a part of your primary school education. As a result, if you go to America, you will notice clean streets, mainstream recycling, and a general awareness about the problems that result from littering. Sure, there is the occasional bad seed that sprouts an unsightly and unhealthy piece of litter - you're never going to get all of the people to cooperate all of the time - but for the most part, Americans are conscious about what they do with their garbage, especially in comparison to other parts of the world.
Like Lebanon.
Lebanon from a distance (if you can see it through the haze) is a beautiful place, and Lebanese are right to say so. But you would think they hated it. This is a country with beautiful beaches where sunbathers and swimmers have to navigate piles of garbage to find a place to lay their towels. This is a place that gets complaints from other countries when they have to combat all of the garbage that floats to their shores. Lebanon is a place that can inspire poets and artists to create things of beauty - until they see the garbage and want to cry.
I know I did. I stood at the Pigeon Rocks, thinking about all of the people throughout history who had sailed the Mediterranean, all of the people of all different backgrounds, ethnicities, races, all of those who had seen this same rock formation, had see this same horizon. And then I looked down.
A boat would have a hard time getting through those waters below. Plastic bottles, bags, cans, coffee cups, styrofoam...hoards of it, all running together like a buffalo stampede, ready to destroy anything in its path. Fish and birds and other wildlife eat that stuff until they die of the toxins or their stomachs explode (literally). Others are imprisoned by it, caught up in plastic bags or god knows what else, unable to free themselves, sometimes starving to death, sometimes succumbing to asphyxiation.
How can one claim to love his land called Lebanon and disrespect it by throwing his garbage on the ground?
What Lebanon needs is a Woodsy Owl or a Keep Lebanon Beautiful, and civil society must take the lead in creating public awareness about pollution and starting a recycling program. There are some great civil society groups in Lebanon who are working towards a better environment in Lebanon, groups like IndyAct, Amwaj, Beeatoona, Mawassem Khair, and so many others. They have ordered beach cleanups, organized awareness campaigns, worked towards fighting global warming, and other issues. Check out their websites and give them a hand.
This video is about a business being run in Kenya. So how does this relate to Lebanon?
The Lebanese use over 6 billion plastic bags annually, according to Waste Lb. "If tied together these bags would form a chain that is long enough to go around the world 37 times."
But what about all of those plastic bags that will continue to be used? Perhaps there is an aspiring entrepreneur somewhere in Lebanon who can replicate Evans Githinji's success in Kenya in turning plastic bags into field posts and support beams.
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. - Khalil Gibran
From the ancient cedars of Shouf to the blue honey of the Mediterranean, traditional rural villages to the sprawling metropolis of Beirut, and the majesty of Mount Lebanon to the luscious Beqaa Valley, Lebanon faces enormous environmental challenges. These problems - which range from desertification and water shortages to threats to marine life and to the towering cedars themselves - transcend ethnicity and creed, wealth and poverty, gender and age. They are common to all and can be ignored by none. Fortunately, Lebanon is taking notice.
With a plethora of civil society groups recently formed to protect Lebanon's slice of the planet, Lebanon has perhaps the most active environmental movement in the Middle East and can lead the way in promoting green policies throughout the region. Not only are international groups like Greenpeace and GAIA active in the country, but grassroots Lebanese organizations like Beeatoona, Green Line, Development for People and Nature Association, and IndyACT have begun to have an impact on dialogue about the environment in Lebanon.
The SELDAS program ran from March 2003 to September 2005, which culminated with the publication of a book (available in Arabic from the Ministry’s website.) The purpose of the program was to build institutional capacities to develop and apply environmental laws and to promote environmental awareness. The project developed a methodology for analyzing environmental legislation and was designed to reform the process of drafting environmental laws. Part of the project included seminars in which civil society organizations and municipalities were invited to give feedback to the Ministry.
The extent to which these plans will be adhered or the impact of the SELDAS program on environmental legislation reform remain to be seen. It is up to civil society organizations across Lebanon to continue to push for reform and to follow up on existing plans and programs. With organizations such as those listed above, Lebanon has an excellent chance to combat environmental degradation and promote a sustainable future for all.
You are lying in bed still awake after two hours. Sleep will not come to you. Your boss has asked you to do something impossible at work; you know you will fail. You've been in a fight with your significant other and wonder if the two of you will break up. You just had a car accident after a truck full of goats drifted over the line and sideswiped you. Beiruti car horns light up the night, drivers unaware that honking does not get them there faster. Tick tock tick tock tick...
