Lebanese Rice... Kuwait's Affection on Full Display
... Lebanon does not survive on war alone. The “Land of Cedars,” which has long grown accustomed to, and weary of, the game of living on the razor’s edge between “water and fire,” continues to defy the “curse of geography” and its proximity to the “beast,” healing much death with a greater love for life.
This has been the fate of the “small homeland” for a long time, since it became a battlefield with many arenas into which it was dragged. Now, it is grappling with the harshest of these, fighting for survival with deferred dreams, from a death that has spared not even the trees... and who knows what the trees are?!
In the current war, 22.5 percent of Lebanon’s agricultural land has fallen, drenched in blood, after rampant evil consumed 56,000 hectares of it, mostly in the south. There, life is swept away... homes, trees, soil, memory, and breath.
On the other side of this “Lebanon,” which has never known how to raise the flag of despair, there is a permanent “uprising of life” called the “Aarsh el Shouf” reserve... the largest in geography, the oldest in history, and the most diverse in its trees and animals.
It is about an hour’s drive from Beirut, with its cement, congestion, and the beautiful noise of life, to the sprawling Aarsh el Shouf reserve, covering 50,000 hectares, or 5 percent of the country’s total area of 10,452 square kilometers, a land that chose the cedar as a symbol that time cannot conquer.
Looking out over the largest reserve in the East, you find yourself before a magnificent painting: towering heights boasting elevations reaching 1,400 meters above sea level, steep slopes ending in the gentleness of valleys, peaks whose beauty lies in their rugged terrain, and sunken plateaus leaning on one another in a captivating scene.
We did not expect Kuwait to be present in this green oasis, among its ancient trees, some of which date back two millennia, and to guide you through this rich biodiversity, abundant with rare plants, migratory birds, and unique nature.
It is normal and natural that Kuwaiti fingerprints and hands are present in its Lebanese twin, in the pages of history and grandmothers’ tales, in “Kuwait Fund” brochures and palaces “built by the father for the grandfather.” In the summer villas of brides and in infrastructure. From Maron el Ras as it was, to Bsharri and its sisters, and so on.
And because Kuwait and Lebanon are “through sweet and bitter times,” this solidarity has prompted one of its businessmen to “invade” the Aarsh el Shouf reserve with a gesture that appears in its daily routine, accompanies its visitors, and never leaves its paths, roaming its areas, growing with its trees, and quenching the thirst of its birds.
Far from the “haste” surrounding the heights of Ali Al-Tahrir and its fate hanging over the “Strait of Hormuz,” and the political-diplomatic mobilization in Beirut to strengthen Lebanon’s “protective shield” against being drawn into a new “holocaust,” “Al-Rai” visited the Aarsh el Shouf reserve, the bride crowned in green, which was declared a “Biosphere Reserve” by UNESCO in 2005, along with the surrounding villages.
Bahaa Fleihan, with his mountainous voice, welcomes the guests: “Welcome, dear ones,” and quickly recalls his mother’s words about Kuwait: “If heaven is like Kuwait, then people will be lucky.” Bahaa continues: “Kuwait’s love resides in our hearts, and its giving is everywhere in Lebanon.”
Near the wooden cabin, two four-wheel-drive vehicles equipped with leather seats in the trunk and covered with sunshades stand ready to serve reserve visitors in their movements. These were donated years ago by businessman Qutaiba Al-Ghanim, who also contributed to planting 150,000 cedar trees, creating an artificial lake, and building a wildlife monitoring cabin.
Baha recalls the beginnings of these contributions, when Quteiba Al-Ghanem visited the reserve about ten years ago. Gazing at its land, he said, “Humans have overexploited nature significantly, and the least we can do is restore what can be returned to it through afforestation.” From this vision emerged a generous contribution aimed at restoring the reserve’s ecological value.
Fleihan confirmed that Al-Ghanem contributed to planting approximately 150,000 cedar trees, in an initiative reflecting a shift toward compensating for part of the losses suffered by forests and enhancing the vegetative cover within the reserve.
His contributions were not limited to tree planting; they also included projects supporting wildlife, such as constructing an artificial lake to help protect the reserve during periods of drought and fire.
Fleihan emphasized that water pools for animals and birds, as well as for firefighting, are among these projects. One such project involved creating a water pool in an elevated area within the reserve, serving multiple functions. In summer, when heat and drought intensify, the water provides a vital source for the animals and birds living in the reserve, helping them cope with harsh conditions.
Fleihan noted that, simultaneously, the pool can play a role in rapid response to fires that may break out on the reserve’s periphery, as helicopters can use its water for firefighting operations when needed.
He added that a distinctive feature of the Lebanese cedar is that its cones grow upward on the branches toward the sky, creating a scene that, according to common descriptions, resembles a tree spreading its branches as if prostrating or supplicating to the Creator. Hence, the tree became known as the “Cedar of God.”
The cedar’s uniqueness is not limited to its external appearance; the tree itself possesses a remarkable natural system. It bears both male and female reproductive organs on the same tree, and its growth process takes several years.
A cedar cone remains on the tree for about three years. In its first year, it is green; in the second, it turns dark brown; and in the third, it becomes light brown, reaching maturity that allows it to fall and release its seeds, initiating the life cycle of a new cedar tree.
Inside the cone lies the cedar seed, which carries a small wing resembling that of a butterfly, a crucial element in its dispersal journey. This wing helps the seed travel away from the parent tree, carried by the wind over long distances before settling in the soil when moisture and suitable conditions for germination are present.
At the Arz el-Shouf Cedar Reserve, the cycle of life does not stop with trees alone. Beehives placed by local farmers in various locations form part of the natural landscape.
When bees land on cedars and wild plants to collect pollen, they contribute to enhancing natural pollination processes. At the same time, they produce honey known as “cedar honey,” whose characteristics derive from the diversity of herbs and wild plants scattered throughout the reserve.
The relationship between the cedar and its surrounding ecosystem appears to be part of an integrated system, in which plants, insects, soil, water, and wind interweave to maintain the natural life cycle within the reserve.
The cedar’s roots are no less important than its branches and cones. The tree possesses the ability to adapt to the harsh conditions imposed by the mountainous environment.
During summer, its deep roots help access moisture deep within the earth. In winter, the tree copes with surface cold and snow differently, enabling it to withstand snow accumulations that can reach several meters.
Thus, the cedar can endure harsh winter conditions, although lightning strikes remain one of the natural hazards that can kill some trees if they are hit.
As the tree ages, especially when it grows in rocky terrain, the pattern of its root and branch spread changes. After decades of growth, the branches begin to expand horizontally, taking on the distinctive shape of the mature Lebanese cedar, which differs from the more upright posture of younger trees.
One of the key secrets of the Lebanese cedar lies in its slow growth. Under natural conditions within protected reserves, and without human interventions to accelerate growth, the tree typically increases in height by only a few centimeters annually, with annual growth ranging between 3 and 7 centimeters.
This means that reaching the size of the giant trees standing tall today in the Al Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve requires centuries. A tree may take around 300 to 400 years, or even longer, to reach the large dimensions characteristic of mature Lebanese cedars.
Here, the value of the cedar transcends its status as a rare species or national symbol; it is a living memory that grows slowly and requires successive generations to reach the stature of the trees that today stand as witnesses to Lebanon’s history and nature.
