It is the result of past and present changes in the implementation of traditional cultural practices, the intensification or abandonment of such practices, and in the case of cedar forests, the exploitation of its timber since ancient times:
Agriculture is the main land use, covering 30% of the territory, from which 19.5% is currently abandoned.
Forests cover 16.1% of the landscape: oak and pine species, traditionally used for wood collection, honey production, and the collection of wild edible and medicinal plants. In many cases, secondary oak forests – mainly Quercus infectoria, mixed with Pinus brutia at lower areas in the south-western side of the landscape – have colonized abandoned agriculture terraces, becoming very dense stands with high accumulation of dry biomass.
Cedar forests cover 403.6 hectares (about 25% of the total cedar forests in Lebanon), distributed in 6 stands located in the core zone.
Pastureland occupies 14% of the SBR, from which 61.5% are high mountain grasslands located in the core zone, and 38.5% are low mountain pastures where livestock grazing is allowed. They host a rich flora, with numerous orchid species.
Shrublands cover 15.5% of the total surface of the SBR landscape. They grow on abandoned agriculture terraces and degraded forest land. They are very important for livestock grazing, with numerous highly palatable legume species.
Rocky outcrops cover 18.7% of the area, and are important habitats for chasmophytic plant species and for the recently introduced Nubian ibex.
Quarries for the extraction of limestone stone and sand cover around 2.4% of the SBR. They are already abandoned in many places, and some restoration measures have been undertaken.
Water About 200 springs supply the 28 towns and villages that surround the main mountain massif, in addition to the perennial river Litani in the West Beqaa side, and the Damour and Awali rivers in the western side.
