Hammana and Anjar, Lebanon, July 2022
The project kicked off on the ground with A Tree for You‘s planting partner – the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL) – together with the local communities of Hammana and Anjar. The aim is to revive the concept of Hima, ‘protected area’ in Arabic: this approach seeks to involve people in the sustainable protection of biodiversity while also enhancing their livelihoods.
Planting 2,500 trees in the villages of Hammana and Anjar will contribute towards restoring biodiversity; protect habitats for animals and birds; help build closer ties between local communities and nature and encourage local community members to sustainably preserve their lands.
For this project, trees will be planted in collaboration with municipalities and local community members. The aim is to get people involved in this activity, so they learn about and understand the importance of the trees and nature surrounding them.
The project started in October 2021, after all the logistics and organisation on the ground had been finalised. The seedlings, sourced from a commercial nursery halfway between Anjar and Hammana, wereready for planting in December 2021.
Lebanon is unfortunately beginning to feel the effects of climate change. Indeed, December to February are usually rainy months and therefore the perfect time to plant the trees. This year, however, the rain was late, and the young trees could only be planted from February 2022.
Since planting was postponed, the plants were kept a little longer in the nursery to keep them healthy until the planting season. Seedlings were also put in water to preserve them.
Planting took place from February to April 2022 and the local communities from both villages were actively involved. In each Hima, 1,250 trees were planted.
In Hammana, trees were planted in a row bordering a road and on a piece of land next to a religious monument. Both places are highly frequented by the local community, who will be able to take full advantage of the new plantations. In Hammana, oak, carob, almond, lime, olive,and cedar trees were planted.
In Anjar, the trees were planted near a school and a church. Here fruit trees were the species of choice since they are vital for the local communities, the fruit harvested will be distributed to help local community members in need. Many different types of tree were planted: cherry, plum, peach, apple, olive, and apricot.
Thanks to their solid experience, the local team was able to handle these new challenges and successfully completed the project despite the delay. The next steps will be monitoring the trees and ensuring sufficient irrigation.
