Lebanon forest project: AFDC

Students who wanted to replant their forest

AFDC (Association for Forest Development and Conservation) is a Lebanese organization that has been working since 1993 to safeguard the country's forest from fires and contribute to better environmental management in Lebanon.

Today a well-recognized national conservation organization active in advocacy, education, and capacity building, it's hard to believe it all started with a group of university students whose original dream was only to restore their village forest after it burned to the ground.

Students turned into conservationists
In 1992, the forest around the small village of Ramlieh in Mount Lebanon went up in flames. Determined to do something about the tragedy, Monir Bu Ghanem, who was a 22-year-old student of business administration at the time, formed a group with four friends to replant the forest. They created AFDC as a charity, started a nursery, and began planting trees, first around Ramlieh, and then eventually throughout Lebanon.

More than just planting trees...
The group realised early on that they needed to do more than just plant trees - the bigger issue was the fires themselves. At the time, fire fighting in Lebanon was being hampered by insufficient manpower and a lack of coordination between fire-fighters, civil defence, and government ministries.

AFDC therefore developed a clear system of roles and responsibilities for the different groups involved in extinguishing forest fires. They also began training villagers to spot fires, mobilize themselves, and extinguish fires.

... and more than just fighting fires
AFDC also realised that fighting fires is not a long-term solution - it would be much better if there were no fires to begin with. So the organization began teaching farmers better fire management practises.

More recently, the organization has begun to work closely with various local partners, such as shepherds and beekeepers, to establish sustainable practices that give forests a value, and with local governments and the national government to ensure that Lebanon has better policies to protect forests and prevent fires. AFDC also now works with the Al-Shouf Cedar Reserve to protect cedar forests. The original centre at Ramlieh was also extended to include a centre for ecotourism and environmental meetings.

Long association with WWF
WWF has supported AFDC since 1996. The latest support comes from WWF's Mediterranean Programme through an EU-funded project. This funding is part of the EU's Short and Medium-term Priority Environmental Action Programme (SMAP), which was established to protect the Mediterranean environment.

Nine offices
AFDC currently has around 400 volunteers and 15 full-time staff split between headquarters in Beirut and nine offices in different villages throughout Lebanon. 

Find out what makes the people at AFDC tick...