Event Summary:

Our trip to the village of Niha was postponed from last week’s rainout. Despite the fact that it did not rain most of Saturday, the land would have been just too muddy to plant, making it both inconvenient for the planter and, even more importantly, difficult for the seedlings.

 I never thought planting in excessively wet conditions would affect young seedlings, but I learned from a horticultural expert (Salma Talhouk) that what happens, in fact, is that doing so we are planting in virtual ‘clay pots’. For instance, by digging holes in wet clayey soils, when the soil starts drying the roots of the planted seedlings eventually begin to wind around the hole (the same which happens with cylindrical pots) rather than penetrating deeper into the earth. This winding of the roots stunts the growth of the shoot due to the lack of nutrient and moisture uptake from a poorly developed root system that eventually will lead to the death of the seedlings. Clearly, this is not what we would have wanted.

 Through research and experimentations, our technical team headed by Khaled Slim is now developing seedlings with optimal roots. Khaled has always mentioned that a healthy root system produces healthy seedlings, which we have begun to accomplish through producing them in Ibsar Seedling Boxes. This new technology will enable anyone to produce a simple contraption to produce quality seedlings at a low cost. 

 We assembled two buses with over 40 volunteers. In actuality, there was only one group that were genuinely volunteers that personally sacrificed a Friday night out and a Saturday sleep-in to go tree planting. The other group was required to go as part of their course (LDEM students). But does it really matter if they are both required to complete the same ‘assignment’, e.g. planting trees? Can one group actually be more proficient because they are volunteers while the other is not? And finally, how could we tell? These questions are part of a research study aimed at uncovering what actually makes people want to volunteer and under what context volunteerism functions here in Lebanon.

 The journey to Niha from Beirut was long but the scenery was stunning. We virtually drove through the whole of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve to reach its southernmost tip where Niha sits. We stopped briefly at the first planting site on the road leading into the village with a spectacular view of the valley below. That particular site was not prepared for us to plant at the moment, so we instead made our way into the village for breakfast provided by the municipality.

 We conglomerated at the public garden with over 40 total participants munching on manakish and basting in the sun. Salma, Khaled and I met with Mayor Hassan to discuss the day’s activities as he embraced us with a warm smile. His wife also came out to meet with us and they were both very pleased with the turnout for the planting event. We had a look at the public area across from the garden where we have plans of installing the 3rd village nursery, or ‘forest seedling cradle’.

 With everyone bellyful, we boarded the buses and made our way up to the main planting site a fair distance from the village center where we were. At a certain point we drove up an unpaved road to a point where the buses could not go any further. Most of us walked while others were trucked up along with the seedlings and tools. It was a steep incline as we steadily made our way up to a small ridge, passing a number of heavy duty vehicles presumably used to create the road.

 At the center of the ridge, the municipality constructed a rainwater catchment basin about 5-7 meters deep, which it plans to use for irrigation and fighting forest fires. Our job was to plant seedlings around the artificial pond and the periphery. The municipality received nearly 900 trees, but our aim was to plant only as many as we needed to – properly!

 We learned over the last 3 years of planting trees that in the semi-arid region of Lebanon, characteristic of its rocky and relatively nutrient-poor soils that a certain level of care and extra effort is needed to ensure seedling survival. In fact, we developed a methodology which can be adopted for virtually all planting sites around Lebanon through simple yet cost-effective procedures. The first and most important step is digging big, deep holes.

 After performing my usual ‘how to properly hold your tools and plant a hole’ act for the participants, we had everyone pair or triple up and begin simply digging holes. Khaled, Salma and I then went around and measured the holes using a 50 L plastic planting pots to ensure they were of the right depth and width. Finally, we began distributing seedlings after giving another lesson in proper planting techniques.

 By the end of our work day (totaling roughly 4 hours), we succeeded in planting over 300 seedlings, ranging from stone pines (Pinus pinea), wild pears (Pyrus syriacus), nettle trees (Celtis australis), myrtles (Myrtus communis), and Kermes oak (Quercus coccifera). It was an exhausting day for most of the LDEM students who perhaps experienced their first tree planting adventure, but it was evident that everyone enjoyed the experience. Amongst our volunteers were also parents (faculty) and their children, ranging from 3 – 13 years of age.

 The very day we were planting in Niha, President Dorman and his wife along with faculty members from AUB were on a hike in the vicinity of the planting site organized by Drs. Nadine Darwich and Riyad Sadek. What a coincidence!

 Species planted in Niha and their quantity:

• Alnus orientalis | Oriental alder | نغت – 100 seedlings
• Prunus dulcis spp. amara | Amara almonds | لوز مر – 100 seedlings
• Cedrus libani | Lebanese cedars | أرز لبنان – 100 seedlings
• Celtis australis | Nettle tree | ميس – 100 seedlings
• Myrtus communis | Myrtle | حب الآس أو الريحان  - 150 seedlings
• Quercus coccifera | Kermes oak | سنديان – 200 seedlings
• Pinus pinea | Stone pine | صنوبر مثمر – 100 seedlings
• Pyrus syriacus | Syrian pear | إجاص سوري – 20 seedlings