Lebanon's forests fall victim to the energy crisis

Yassin lives in the Chtoura region in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, where the majority of the region's residents rely on firewood as a means of heating, while the material factor and the volume of consumption remain the main factor in the amount they buy, he said.

Yassin expresses his concern about his inability to secure a sufficient amount of firewood, after its price reached record levels as a result of the Israeli war on Lebanon: “During this time of the year, the price of firewood reaches its peak, and the Lebanese citizen does not care whether the firewood was cut from trees legally or not; all he cares about is getting firewood at a reasonable price to last him through the winter.”

Yassin bought only one ton of firewood this winter season for 200 US dollars, after a ton was sold for about 150 dollars, while energy prices range between 1 million 325 liras and 1 million 424 Lebanese pound ($15) per 20 liters of fuel oil gas or ‘mazut , according to the Lebanese Ministry of Energy. Lebanon also suffers from energy scarcity, making it a challenge to obtain firewood, even for those who can afford it.

Yassin has been relying on firewood for seven years as a source of energy, and he gets annually in the same way. He browses the relevant groups on Facebook, where traders offer prices, and after agreement, they send the shipment through a delivery service; the trader and seller do not meet face to face.

The author monitored 20 groups and accounts on Facebook and TikTok, through which traders announce the availability of firewood extracted from several trees; most notably pine, cedar, oak, citrus, eucalyptus and other species , and the prices vary according to the quality of the firewood, but the price ranges from $70 to $200 per ton. Merchants post pictures of the firewood and contact numbers, and hundreds of Lebanese express their desire to buy, in the comments section.

This comes despite the fact that the advertised pine and cedar trees fall within the scope of gum forest trees, which Lebanese law prohibits felling, except through special technical trimming in individual cases by the method of technical individualization, and under a license issued by the Minister of Agriculture.

However, videos circulating in groups dedicated to firewood sellers show that citizens rely on primitive or dangerous cutting methods, such as chainsaws and other sharp tools, to cut down tree trunks.

These logs are then transported to workshops with electric cutting machines to cut large logs into small pieces. GeoGuess, which specializes in geolocation based on artificial intelligence, confirmed that one of the workshops is located on the road between Zahle and Baalbek. One of the firewood storage sites is located in Qab Elias, in the Zahle district of the Bekaa Valley.

From these workshops, large trucks depart to transport the firewood to the consumer, or to a local retailer. By following photos of one of the trucks posted on social media, we confirmed the presence of a code beginning with the letter “M”, which is placed at the beginning of the license plates of trucks registered in Lebanon.

The process of selling firewood goes through several stages, according to a Lebanese firewood trader who prefers to remain anonymous, starting with a de facto control of a trader over part of a whole forest. This trader owns usually, a workshop and equipment that allows workers to cut firewood extracted from forests into large pieces and sell it to a smaller traders. Those in turn, cut the wood into smaller pieces to fit domestic types of burners, and then sell o the consumer.

The trader admits that there are species that Lebanese law restricts cutting, such as oaks, but big influential traders still cut them, adding that he does not dare to sell oaks unless he is sure that he will not be exposed to any danger or legal prosecution.

“Most traders do not have a license, and we cannot pass by police patrols because we know that what we are doing is against the law,” he said.

Interestingly, videos posted on social media show firewood being cut in open and public places, without any deterrent, and the logging operations are usually followed by forest fire types (lit up on purpose), as happened on October 28, 2024, when Lebanese security arrested four people who were logging and charged them with logging without a legal license in the forests of Nabiyeh, in North Maten, Mount Lebanon governorate.

The use of wood resulting from the (illegal) logging operation caused a large fire that burned large areas of forests, trees, and some houses, forcing many families to evacuate their homes and neighbouring schools at the request of the Civil Defense to preserve public safety, and the fire was not extinguished until several days later.

The head of the National Center for Environmental Justice, Dr. Mohammad Mustafa Ayadat, points out that there are several laws and decrees regarding the protection and management of forests in Lebanon, the most important of which is the Forestry Law issued in 1949, with the aim of regulating the management of forests and preserving them from degradation and over-exploitation.

Article 12 of the law prohibits authorizing the cutting of trees in state forests except in cases of force majeure, in which case the authorization must be issued by a decree of the Council of Ministers.

Law No. 85 of 1991, which aims to preserve forest wealth and forests, contains several articles aimed at protecting forests from logging and illegal cutting. The law prohibits cutting down trees or exploiting forests without prior authorization from the competent authorities, and specifies penalties for violators.

The law regulates the issuance of logging licenses, ensuring oversight of forest-related activities, as well as giving local authorities broad powers to monitor forests and protect them from encroachment, including implementing legal measures against violators and ensuring the sustainability of forest wealth.

The CEO of the National Center for Environmental Justice, Dr. Mohammed Mustafa Ayadat, believes that the lack of environmental awareness in society is one of the main obstacles to protecting forests, as many citizens are unaware of the importance of forests. In addition, existing legislation does not keep pace with contemporary environmental challenges - such as the impact of climate change on forests - because most of it, is outdated and has not been recently amended, which hinders its implementation on the ground.

The environmental expert emphasizes that Lebanese legislation lacks legal formulation and long-term strategy, and has not incorporated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The laws also have loopholes that can be used to justify illegal activities, such as exceptions granted to investors and individuals, which hinders protection efforts and exacerbates illegal logging.

Dredging the lungs of the Middle East

In 2015, the area of Lebanon's forests and woodlands amounted to 237,000 hectares, equivalent to 23.4 percent of its land area. Since that year, Lebanon has lost more than 10,000 hectares of these forests.

The decline of Lebanon's forests is due to fires, 92 percent of which were attributed to unknown causes, while five percent of the fires were caused by negligence and two percent were due to arson.

To monitor the extent of the decline in tree cover in Lebanon, we relied in this report on the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, and from these images we produced the vegetation index (NDVI), which is used in remote sensing science to analyze the density and vitality of vegetation in a given area. This index provides vital information about changes in plant health over time, and is also used to monitor drought and assess crop growth.

In the Akkar region in particular, satellite imagery and vegetation index maps show a marked improvement in some green spaces in 2024, but a sharp decline in others, with areas classified as uncultivated shrinking to about half of what they were in 2020. Areas classified as open land, grasslands, and low-density forests shrank to their lowest levels in several years. In contrast, areas classified as dense forests tripled compared to 2020.

2017 2020 2024

Satellite imagery showing changes in Akkar's forests between 2017 and 2024

Khaled Taleb, a forest management expert and leader of the Akkar Forest Fire Trail team, believes that logging is an old issue, but it has worsened as a result of the economic crisis and rising heating costs, especially in villages and towns.

Logging in itself is not an issue, as long as it is done in accordance with an integrated forest management plan. Thoughtful logging operations contribute to the reduction of biomass, thereby reducing the risk of forest fires. But what is happening recently is intensive and indiscriminate logging that has affected even high altitude trees, such as juniper, cedar and fir trees, which do not regenerate as easily as oak or pine, according to Taleb.

Logging and deforestation have significant impacts on climate and human life , according to the second updated report submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2017.

Forests play a key role as “carbon stores”, absorbing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and storing it in biomass and soil. When trees are cut down, the stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere, exacerbating global warming.

In its 2020 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), Lebanon committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2030, setting it as an unconditional target, with a maximum of 31 percent by the same year, with certain conditions.

Yasser Haddad, a climatologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, argues that deforestation leads to drastic changes in the landscape, as fertile, rain-rich forests turn into dry, arid lands. This disruption of the natural water cycle leads to desertification in the affected areas. Trees also help regulate atmospheric moisture and maintain soil quality; without them, soil becomes more susceptible to erosion, increasing the likelihood of flooding.

In an effort to find solutions to the erosion of tree cover in Lebanon, Darb Akkar has facilitated the planting of more than 11,000 trees from local forests and supported programs to provide fast-growing trees to community members who can plant them to provide alternative firewood in a few years.

However, the high cost of energy, and finding a clean alternative that is in line with citizens' economic conditions, remains a major challenge to protecting Lebanon's forests.

This report was completed with support from ARIJ