Hibr

A Swiss gardener plants trees in the former “Green Lebanon”

    Patrick Humbert, a Swiss actor, singer and gardener, has planted more than 50,000 trees in Lebanon. Patrick’s main and only aim is to plant trees. He does it by himself with an incredible conviction of the usefulness of his actions and objectives. He is the founder of the International Association of Reforestation, Yggdrasill (ARFIY, using the French acronym), whose aim is to raise awareness about reforestation.

    Patrick first came to Lebanon in 2003 on a musical tour. He had been sensitized to the environmental problems of this country that was once called “The Green Lebanon” thanks to its famous mountains and forests. In the past few years, Lebanon has lost hundreds of acres of pines, oaks and cedars. 

    Even the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), an international organization whose mission, according to their website, is “to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature”, is concerned about the future of Lebanon’s forests. “Outside of the two nature reserves to protect the Lebanese cedar, large areas of trees remain unprotected,” Pedro Regato, the head of the Mediterranean Forest Program at WWF, explains. “Current threats result from changing land use, urbanization, logging, over grazing, unregulated tourism and frequent fires that burn out of control.” Yearly fires are a huge threat; for example, in 2003, there were 15,000 fires. Most start because farmers do not clear their orchards and fields of grasses and stubble. “Too often fires get out of control, causing enormous amounts of damage,” Pedro says. “Each year, an area the size of Corsica goes up in smoke in the region. This is causing biodiversity loss, water scarcity and soil erosion in extensive areas, and has negative economic consequences as well.”
  Humbert came back to Lebanon in 2005 to implement his project, Phoenix Libanii. On March 11, ARFIY organized a major conference in the north of Lebanon, which was attended by representatives from the ministries of agriculture and environment. In the fall of 2006, Patrick planted 50,000 plants of various species in the region of Batroun. Then, in 2007, 4,200 trees were planted at three different sites: Zahle, Tannourine and Byblos. In the nursery of Tannourine, which was established in 2006, Patrick planted more than 2,000 cedars, with the assistance of a workman and a driver. The monks at the monastery of Tannourine are in charge of watering the seedlings.

   ARFIY's website provides information about past and future projects, including pictures. It also contains a map of Lebanon showing where plantations have taken place as well as where future ones are planned (in Nabatiye and Koubayat). For 8 Euros a tree, ARFIY also offers readers the opportunity to have a tree planted in their name. These projects are funded by Geneva and Heritage Management and some Lebanese private associations. 

   In October 2008, Patrick participated in Science Days, which was held at the Beirut racecourse. For three days, Patrick Humbert and a Lebanese student manned a stand where they encouraged visitors to plant trees by offering them an oak in a bag to take home to plant. Opposite this stand, a mini-exhibition helped raise awareness among the young visitors about environmental issues and the importance of trees for the planet. The official guests, which included the mayor of Geneva, Mr. Patrice Mugny; the mayor of Beirut, Mr Abdel Mounim Ariss; Lebanon’s ministers of information (at the time), Mr. Gebran Bassil, and culture Mr Tamam Salam; and the Swiss ambassador to Lebanon, Mr. François Barras, who also planted five umbrella pines (also known as stone pines) at the racecourse during the opening ceremony. 

    At the end of Science Days 2008, Patrick discovered that the five umbrella pines - that had been a gift from him to the Lebanese - had angered the president of the racecourse.  He wanted a different kind of tree planted and Patrick had to remove the donated trees!

   This year, in spring 2010, ARYI is planning projects in the Bekaa valley, in Koubayat, and in Nabatieh. Patrick is still hoping to plant more trees and to contribute to the beauty of the Lebanese mountains and forests, which the WWF describe as “fragmented and deregulated” and yet “represent the most biologically outstanding habitats and regions in the world.”

    For more information on Patrick Humbert's initiative, visit www.arfiy.net.