The Lebanese Cedar still stands grand and majestic, anyone who has been in its presence will tell you that being under one feels like the embrace of a wise and nurturing presence. Once lush forests as far as the eye can see across the mountain ranges, today only survive as isolated patches in less than twenty locations of this small country.
Greenpeace MENA has just released a short film online documenting the effects of global climate change on the Lebanese Cedar forests, or what remains of them after millennia of unabashed exploitation. These forests have been ravaged since the beginning of recorded history, and were designated as protected all the way back to ancient times. Today, due to a host of factors,many being exacerbated by climate change, the cedars face increasingly serious threats to their long-term continuity.
The Cedar is Lebanon’s unifying symbol, proudly center stage on the nation’s flag, but just as central as a unifying emotional icon that represents everything whole and beautiful about the country. We Lebanese are always hopeful that this icon will remain the point of consensus that transcends political bickering.
Today the Lebanese cedar forests – like those of the Amazon basin, Europe and North America, face an accelerating tide of immense threats and pressures that are all too evident. From Lebanon, we add our voice to all others calling for action to give our forests, and those of the rest of the world, a fighting chance to survive in the face of global climate change and the disruption that wreaks on local ecosystems.
It is our hope that by reaching out to the world with this film from Lebanon, we can support all those who are working to transcend differences and work collectively to implement sustainable solutions to our common climate emergency.