Funded by: CEPF- Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund,
implementation Area: Shouf Biosphere Reserve: Maasser, Khreibeh, Boutmeh, Jbaa | Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve
Overall objective:
The proposed project will contribute to an inclusive and sustainable economic development initiative of the rural communities living in the SBR and JMBR through an exchange of good practices for the revival and dissemination of traditional, biodiversity-friendly land use and agricultural practices.
The proposed project focuses on 4 main specific objectives:
1. Revive the restoration of old dry-stone walls in abandoned agricultural terraces and promote the use and the dissemination of sustainable agricultural practices in the SBR
2. Reduce the pressure of the collection in the wild of species such as Origanum ehrenbergii, O. libanoticum, Malus trilobata, Crataegus monogyna, and C. azarolus by promoting their nursery propagation and cultivation
3. Improve the livelihood of the local communities by increasing the economic sustainability of the goods and services resulting from the cultural and traditional practices as well as by increasing skills of the farmers, women and young people by providing trainings on dry stonewalls restoration, sustainable agricultural practices and ways of transformation of local agricultural produce with high-quality standards
4. Induce active participatory involvement of the local authorities and the communities living in the development zone of the two Reserves for the replication and promotion of the proposed traditional practices and inclusion of these biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices in the land use plans of the buffer zones of the two Biosphere Reserves.
Main activities
1.1 Training on traditional restoration techniques of old abandoned terraces, soil conservation and sustainable farming techniques (mulching, composting, minimum and notillage, intercropping, polyculture, agroforestry, integrated pest management, water harvesting and storage, use of drought-resistant species), for 120 farmers, and 30 unemployed young people in the SBR and JMBR.
1.2 Restoration of 10 ha in the SBR and 5 ha in the JMBR of old abandoned agricultural terraces following the Oikos-ACS restoration scheme (only 1. land plots with more or less dense herbaceous cover with or without scattered trees and 2. land plots with herbaceous
cover, less than 50% shrub-land cover and with or without scattered trees).
1.3 Promotion of the use of native or “heirloom” species in agriculture, through the distribution to farmers of SBR and JMBR of 11,000 seedlings such as Origanum syriacum, Malus trilobata, Crataegus monogyna, Crataegus azarolus, old local varieties of grape (Vitis vinifera) “Obeidi” and “Merweh”, figs (Ficus carica), pomegranate (Punica granatum), jujube (Ziziphus jujube), Damascus rose (rosa x damascena).
1.4.1 Training for JMBR staff and young volunteers on Biodiversity monitoring following the Oikos-ACS scheme and in parallel for a selected pool of “sentinel” farmers in the SBR (5) and in JMBR (5) (total of 10 farmers) on recognition of few important indicators selected at the beginning of the project and their presence variation.
1.4.2 Biodiversity monitoring in the restored terraces and for comparison, in the abandoned terraces and in the common intensive agricultural lands in the SBR (3 sites per each type of agricultural management, total of 9 sites) and starting a collection of a baseline on biodiversity in JMBR.
1.5.1 Training from JMBR to the SBR on nursery techniques for the conservation and diffusion of native/wild trees and shrubs.
1.5.2 Creation of a nursery in the SBR for the production of native fruit tree varieties and aromatic plants in order to reduce the pressure of the collection of wild species in their natural habitats and improving the nursery in JMBR by adding a seed storage at the nursery.
2.1 Promotion of the cultivated oregano and the native local fruits (Lebanese wild apple, Malus trilobata, and Azarole, Crataegus azarolus, the common hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna) in favour of decreasing the pressure on harvesting in the wild, through the participation at Fair Trade market events and the local farmer’s markets and organisation of 2 meetings between the farmers and the service providers (local restaurants, guest houses, tables d’hôtes) of the two reserves to create a solid marketing flow.
2.2 Organization of 6 workshops for 60 women living in the two Biosphere Reserves (40 in the SBR and 20 in the JMBR), on traditional uses, recipes and transformation of the native species and main hygiene standards.
2.3 Establishment of 1 new farmer market in the SBR and organization of 2 events in JMBR for the promotion of the local rural products.
3.1 “Conservation agreements” with farmer beneficiaries of land restoration activities and engaging them in sustainable practices
3.2.1 ACS-APJM development of guidelines for a sustainable conservation and use of wild species (Malus trilobata, Crataegus azarolus, Crataegus monogyna) and project best practices included in the management plan of SBR and development of recommendations for their integration in the revised management plan and strategies of JMBR.
3.2.2 Promoting active participatory involvement of the local authorities and the
communities living in the development zone of the two Reserves for the replication and promotion of the proposed traditional practices and inclusion of this biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices
Total Duration
12 months (1 year) from May 1, 2021 till June 1, 2022