NGO auctions trees as part of efforts to reforest Lebanon

An innovative tool for environmental education and awareness from lebanon, that can be spread to the region. This is a report by the Daily Star

By Marc Abizeid

This year the Ibsar Nature Conservation Center for Sustainable Futures decided to take on a new approach to spreading environmental awareness and gaining support for their activities. Instead of relying on sympathetic donors to supply the funds for planting new trees, the center decided to auction the trees off in what turned into a lively competitive event that made learning about the importance of Lebanon's biodiversity a fun and engaging experience. Trading stiff lecture hall seats for the comfortable couches of contemporary restaurant Gruen's Eatery, the hundred-odd guests at the auction were able to sip mint-infused lemonade and nibble on California-inspired hors d'oeuvres to get in the mood for raising their environmental awareness in a social context.

After kicking off the auction around 7 p.m., auctioneer Nada Boulos al-Assaad presented 25 "products and services" offered to society by trees, with the idea behind the auction being to "buy something that nature is giving back to you," according to Ibsar director Salma Talhouk. Services like cleaning the air, reducing stress, protecting rivers, lowering ground temperature and beautifying neighborhoods were a few of the abstract concepts pitched to the eager crowd, with each concept being packaged into a bid to sponsor a lot of anywhere from five to a hundred trees.

"It was like a game to convey these concepts, in a relaxed atmosphere ... to highlight the values that trees offer us ... the natural services they provide to society," said Talhouk, who was impressed with how things proceeded, and now plans to make the auction an annual event.

The money raised from the auction will go solely to planting trees, each of which costs Ibsar LL10,000 to plant, as a part of the "Power of Planting" project being conducted by the center.

As an effort that complements existing reforestation initiatives in Lebanon, "Power of Planting" also addresses shortcomings of these initiatives, like focusing only on fast-growing tree varieties, and only six or seven of the 40 types of tree species native to Lebanon.

In response to shortcomings it sees on the ground, Ibsar focuses on planting all species of native trees and investing the time that such a goal requires. "Trees natural to this area grow very slowly. We're looking at a time commitment of at least 10 to 15 years, a commitment that we are able to make as an academic organization," stated Talhouk, alluding to the center's affiliation with the American University of Beirut (AUB).

"We need to respect biodiversity in order to ensure the proper functioning of ecosystems; trees take care of each other ... and nature and people should take care of each other also. We wanted to reinforce this idea in a creative way" explained Nour Najem, who plans events and develops new funding strategies for Ibsar.

Adding that the center also educates municipalities and towns on how to maintain trees once they are planted by Ibsar, Najem described how Ibsar also tries to help the villages learn how to extract economic benefits from the trees as well. "They can use the trees to bring money into the village for anything from commercial food products like pears or cherries to natural materials for Arabic herbal medicines," she said.

Ibsar will also work with the villages and municipalities to transfer the knowledge and skills required to establish their own nurseries and continue planting trees. "You don't need to be a scientist or an expert to plant a tree," said Talhouk, who advocated making villages the "gatekeepers of biodiversity in Lebanon" and popularizing the idea that planting and taking care of trees is something that everyone can do.

To give bidders higher incentive, Ibsar promised to plant trees in the names of the highest bidders, along with providing them with an official certificate, logistical and contact information concerning the village where their trees will be planted, and individual acknowledgement in the AUB University Donor Report.

Bids ranged from LL200,000 LL to LL1,000,000 and brought in a total of LL11,840,000, an amount that also included separate donations made after the auction by those who could not afford to outbid other guests.

To make a donation to Ibsar, visit the site at www.ibsar.org