n  Establishment of up to 100 community-operated small-scale, sustainable native tree nurseries in partnership with municipalities and local community organizations in towns and villages throughout Lebanon.

n  Capacity and awareness building on the importance of native biodiversity and its conservation, identifying native flora and understanding their habitats, composting and soil production, as well as sustainable tree production and nursery management.

Long-term (2012-2015): Grassroots Community Reforestation

n  Community-based large scale reforestation for village peripheries and rural landscapes based on the Community Forest Field Banks and the Community Native Tree Nurseries established during phase 2. 

n  Diversification of species and optimization of their production and their integration into existing reforestation schemes with a goal of 1,000,000 native trees and shrubs by 2020. 

n  Establish the grounds for annual Tree Planting Festival (TPF) to take place every November across all the established Community Native Tree Nurseries. IBSAR defines TPFs as eco-cultural festivals aimed at highlighting the broader connection of local communities and their traditions to nature.

        The primary activity of a TPF is tree planting, accompanied by artistic activities (e.g. nature-crafts) and products from nature (e.g. food, fiber, and herbal traditional products).

Ongoing Monitoring and Future Aims & Objectives

Monitoring activities will be developed by IBSAR staff and will be transferred to local community members and students. Monitoring will focus on the success of the planting initiatives and potential impacts in light of climate change. Involving local communities in the monitoring will ensure long term data collection which will help establish trends that will in turn provide valuable data for future tree planting initiatives.

In order for IBSAR to fulfill our vision in order “for societies to become guardians and primary beneficiaries of biodiversity in the region”, we must help to facilitate their transition back to nature and their traditions.  It is imperative that we prepare local members of the community to understand the importance of biodiversity. It is possible, due to the fact that biodiversity is an abstract scientific term to most laypersons, to place it within the context of preserving ones cultural and natural heritage. In essence, one of the main challenges for IBSAR will be this challenge in addressing the importance of and the issues relating to biodiversity and its current loss on the global front.

Furthermore, while we establish more solidarity with our ongoing objectives, we are effectively making an effort to bring biodiversity and the products and services it offers societies, in ecological and economic terms.  We are essentially attempting to bridge academic disciplines and functions, such as with conservation and agriculture (e.g. agrobiodiversity), agroforestry and economics (e.g. NTFPs/NWFPs), while studying the cultural significance of plants and animals to human beings (i.e. ethnobiology). In order for conservation centers to progress and meet the needs of current times, we must essentially expand our horizons and consolidate goals such as mitigating climate change, preserving and encouraging biodiversity conservation, while reducing poverty and improving livelihoods. It will take many hands, hearts, and minds to tackle the current problems in the world, but we can only do this together, one seed at a time.