In collaboration with the International Forest Film Festival (IFFF) which was organized by the United Nations Film Festival and the Jackson Wildlife Film Festival, Ibsar held a forest film screening on four different days targeting different audiences: School Students, AUB faculty and staff, professionals and students of Media and Communications, and Lebanese writers.
The aims of this festival was to celebrate the International Year of Forests, 2011 through film by raising awareness to the effects of climate change, global warming, and other man-induced threats to forests, nature, and man’s wellbeing.
While the first two screenings exposed the said effects on human life, the last two further stressed this point through discussions held after the screening. The session scheduled for professionals and students of Media and Communications was postponed till October, 2011 to coincide with the tree planting season and attract more students to participate. The said session will include a panel discussion titled “The State of Forests and the Role of Media and Communication,” led by Dr. Chadi Mhanna, Director of Rural Development and Natural Resources - Ministry of Agriculture, and journalist, Ms. Sobhiya Najjar. Certificates of participation will be distributed at the end of the session.
The session scheduled for Lebanese writers included a screening and discussion of the significant role played by writers in nature conservation. Attendees laid out different point of views in this regard stressing the importance of a humanistic relationship between nature and writer while others believed that the word no matter the audience can be strong enough to affect change and mobilization in nature conservation. They agreed that awareness, which should begin at an early age, is still lacking. Not many books, children and adult alike, about nature, or nature conservation exist in Lebanon and the region. In addition to academic books, which tackle this issue from a scientific perspective, attendees agreed that stories and narratives about and for nature should be present in larger quantities and varieties.
The organization of this event was made possible with the support of United States Forest Services (USFS) and USAID.