Becharre Committee to Safeguard the Evironment
Becharre Committee to Safeguard the Evironment
BEIRUT, By Aline Tawk | January 22, 2010
Garbage collection, sorting out the trash and recycling, raises awareness on environmental issues among young people… In Becharre, the CSE plants trees… and hope.
They call him “Hakim Echarbine” (Cypress doctor). He’s Youssef Tawk, the founder of the Becharre Committee to Safeguard the Environment (CSE), the doctor who dedicated his whole life to serving people and nature. .
In 1991, he returns to Lebanon after a few years in Belgium where he studied medicine and in Africa on a humanitarian mission. The war at home is not over yet, and the people in his hometown of Becharre are too busy with politics and fighting… They don’t even take the time to pick up the trash that’s piling up on every street corner. In theory, it would be the responsibility of a non-existent municipality and of a government that no longer exist.
Disgusted by conflicts and the smell of trash, Youssef decides to organize a garbage collection with the help of some friends “in order to clean up the village and revive souls”… This is how CSE starts out as the village’s “official garbage collector”. But the small groups soon understood that this will not be their only mission and the reforestation of the Makmel Mountains will quickly become their main preoccupation.
Reforestation:
It’s with the financial help of Yves Rocher Foundation that the first Cedar seedlings are planted on the land around the famous Becharre forest. The seeds are picked in the Ehden and Tannourine forests, and then sown in little bags in the tree nursery set up by the Committee. When the plants are 2 or 3 years old, they are planted in the ground the watered and cared-for for about 10 years. But the task isn’t all that easy: there is a lack of information on cedars culture in Lebanon and the percentage of failure is demoralizing but CSE members don’t give up and learn from their own experience. This takes a few years but in 1996, failure does not exceed 10%. There are other problems threatening trees: for example goats that eat little trees or snowmobiles that squash them, hikers leave picnic leftovers in the forest or simply locals who don’t all care much about protecting the environment. This encouraged CSE to launch awareness campaigns and projects for the sustainable development of the region.
Garbage collection, sorting and recycling
In 1996, thanks to financing by UNDP’s LIFE program, SEB launched a project for garbage collection, sorting and recycling of trash in Becharre. The inhabitants’ motivation for this was surprising and soon enough over 80% of homes in the town starting sorting their trash … unfortunately, following the first municipal elections after the Civil War, the project, run by the new municipality was forgotten …
The Cedar EcoClub, discovering ecotourism
In 2001, the EcoClub, a youth hostel and awareness center was inaugurated at the Cedars thanks to the financial help of World Vision. This center that has many objectives was one of the first clubs to launch the ecotourism wave in Lebanon.
The EcoClub was an opportunity for the SEB to widen the reach of heir awareness programs by organizing nature trips for students and families from all over the world. Cross-country skiing, a healthy and nature-friendly sport gained in popularity along with other “green”activities such as hiking, rock-climbing, camping… The EcoClub was SEB’s first self-sustainable project… a proof of the economic efficiency of sustainable development.
Today the SEB is proud to watch over 50.000 little cedars in the mountains, even though financial means for their maintenance are starting to lack “we are so busy with our fieldwork that we do not have time to look for the funds we actually need to maintain the cedars and plant-nursery, but we never lose hope because, since our beginnings, help often came by itself… each one must do his duty toward others and toward nature without worrying too much about how it can be done” explains Youssef Tawk, still very active and full of energy after all these years.
In 1991, he returns to Lebanon after a few years in Belgium where he studied medicine and in Africa on a humanitarian mission. The war at home is not over yet, and the people in his hometown of Becharre are too busy with politics and fighting… They don’t even take the time to pick up the trash that’s piling up on every street corner. In theory, it would be the responsibility of a non-existent municipality and of a government that no longer exist.
Disgusted by conflicts and the smell of trash, Youssef decides to organize a garbage collection with the help of some friends “in order to clean up the village and revive souls”… This is how CSE starts out as the village’s “official garbage collector”. But the small groups soon understood that this will not be their only mission and the reforestation of the Makmel Mountains will quickly become their main preoccupation.
Reforestation:
It’s with the financial help of Yves Rocher Foundation that the first Cedar seedlings are planted on the land around the famous Becharre forest. The seeds are picked in the Ehden and Tannourine forests, and then sown in little bags in the tree nursery set up by the Committee. When the plants are 2 or 3 years old, they are planted in the ground the watered and cared-for for about 10 years. But the task isn’t all that easy: there is a lack of information on cedars culture in Lebanon and the percentage of failure is demoralizing but CSE members don’t give up and learn from their own experience. This takes a few years but in 1996, failure does not exceed 10%. There are other problems threatening trees: for example goats that eat little trees or snowmobiles that squash them, hikers leave picnic leftovers in the forest or simply locals who don’t all care much about protecting the environment. This encouraged CSE to launch awareness campaigns and projects for the sustainable development of the region.
Garbage collection, sorting and recycling
In 1996, thanks to financing by UNDP’s LIFE program, SEB launched a project for garbage collection, sorting and recycling of trash in Becharre. The inhabitants’ motivation for this was surprising and soon enough over 80% of homes in the town starting sorting their trash … unfortunately, following the first municipal elections after the Civil War, the project, run by the new municipality was forgotten …
The Cedar EcoClub, discovering ecotourism
In 2001, the EcoClub, a youth hostel and awareness center was inaugurated at the Cedars thanks to the financial help of World Vision. This center that has many objectives was one of the first clubs to launch the ecotourism wave in Lebanon.
The EcoClub was an opportunity for the SEB to widen the reach of heir awareness programs by organizing nature trips for students and families from all over the world. Cross-country skiing, a healthy and nature-friendly sport gained in popularity along with other “green”activities such as hiking, rock-climbing, camping… The EcoClub was SEB’s first self-sustainable project… a proof of the economic efficiency of sustainable development.
Today the SEB is proud to watch over 50.000 little cedars in the mountains, even though financial means for their maintenance are starting to lack “we are so busy with our fieldwork that we do not have time to look for the funds we actually need to maintain the cedars and plant-nursery, but we never lose hope because, since our beginnings, help often came by itself… each one must do his duty toward others and toward nature without worrying too much about how it can be done” explains Youssef Tawk, still very active and full of energy after all these years.
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