The Beqaa’s Juniper Trees

Along the barren lands of western Beqaa’s Hermel region lies an undisturbed natural forest of Juniper trees, both the Juniperus excelsa and Juniperus foetidissima species. Perched on top of a hill, this unsung conifer does not enjoy nearly as much praise as the Lebanese Cedar does – despite it being just as glorious. It can even grow at a higher altitude of 2,800 meters and possesses a myriad of exceptional ecological attributes that makes it vital for Lebanese forests.

The Lezzab tree, as we call it in Arabic, is an enormous producer of oxygen. It improves the quality of the soil it lives in, creates the right conditions for other plants to grow, and protects the soil from erosion due to its substantial roots – preventing risks of landslides. It is also a habitat for wildlife. In fact, the way this tree germinates is a magnificent natural process; it relies on birds, mainly the Turdus Viscivorus and Turdus Merula, who consume its berries, and then excrete its seeds into the ground after ingestion, allowing it to sprout¹. Juniper berries also have powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and they have been traditionally used as a herbal medicine to treat cancer, diabetes, indigestion and kidney issues². Additionally, they are the main botanical in gin. They are sweet and retain an earthy aroma with a bitter hint of citrus. Unfortunately, though, this tree does not receive the proper safeguarding it deserves.

Deprivation

For years, forests surrounding Hermel have been threatened by hazardous and illegal tree cutting, which is now driving deforestation. No longer able to afford fuel for heat, people have resorted to cutting down trees. Not being able to afford fuel does not excuse arbitrarily felling scores of trees, though. It is feasible to source firewood without killing trees – especially those that take years on end to grow – but the lack of regulation and control is a state negligence that loggers continue to abuse.

Lebanon’s 2019 economic collapse and massive currency devaluation have driven the inhabitants of this already marginalized region into further poverty. However, the roots of this marginalization date much farther back. Since the establishment of Greater Lebanon in 1920, peripheral regions like the Beqaa, the South, along with Akkar and Tripoli, were historically sidelined, while growth and development efforts were confined to Beirut and Mount Lebanon. During Lebanon’s so-called heyday, the inequalities between regions were flagrant, and the Beqaa – quasi-abandoned by the state – was deprived of the most basic services. Its people were treated as second class citizens.

Climate Change

Despite its historical deprivation, the wealth of the Beqaa’s lands has made it Lebanon’s agricultural breadbasket. The Beqaa accounts for 43% of Lebanon’s cultivated land³. Nestled between Lebanon’s two mountain ranges that extend from north to south along Lebanon’s eastern frontier with Syria, it is fed by two rivers. Al-Assi River, also known as the Orontes, flows northwards towards Syria, while the Litani River flows southwards towards the north of Tyre. The region’s fertile soil, rich variety of seeds, four seasons, and ensuing exposure to the ideal amount of rain and sun, offer plenty of agricultural richness. In recent years, the tangible impact of climate change has increasingly been felt across the region.

The lezzab tree is famously distinguished by its capability to withstand harsh environmental conditions that can be detrimental to survival; not all species share such resilient properties in the face of changing weather patterns. Lebanon has been experiencing an annual temperature increase of 0.3°C per decade since 1970, and an 11mm decrease in rainfall per decade since 1950⁴. These hotter and drier climate conditions, which are projected to worsen in the future⁵, along with the consequent water scarcity, are contributing to droughts and the desertification of the Beqaa. Later, warmer, and shorter winters are diminishing soil moisture. This threatens biodiversity, reducing crop yields, and increasing the possibility of fires.

The ramifications of this are seen in the quality of food and water sources, which is also being compromised by pollution. It is taking a toll on the most widely grown crops in the Beqaa: legumes such as fava beans and chickpeas, wheat and barley, and fruit trees (namely cherries, apricots, grapes, and apples). Additionally, climate change is altering grazing periods and pastureland quality, which is affecting livestock raising.

Such losses are costing people their livelihood, as they mainly rely on agriculture to sustain themselves. That said, questions about climate change must not take precedence amid the ongoing, systematic destruction of the area. The unprecedented death and displacement in the Beqaa, at the hands of Israel, are far more urgent.

Israeli Atrocities

Over the last year, the Beqaa has been subjected to sporadic Israeli attacks, but the bloody escalation since September 2024 has taken Israeli criminality to a new level of violence. Due to their unleashing of indiscriminate massacres, homes sheltering entire families have been razed to the ground, entire neighborhoods flattened, and thousands have been killed and injured – many of whom remain trapped under the rubble at this very moment.

With an estimated population of 1,000,000 residents⁶, Israel’s carpet bombing campaign has subjected the Beqaa to unprecedented levels of forced displacement, resulting in hardship for Lebanese and Syrian refugees (who poured into Lebanon at the onset of the war on Syria) alike.

This forced displacement – another prominent feature of Israel’s long list of war crimes – falls within Israel’s orchestrated scheme to uproot a segment of the population from their lands. The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have been issuing so-called ‘evacuation orders’ for the people of the Beqaa, just as they have for the Southern Lebanese villages and Beirut’s southern suburb. Last week, the residents of the ancient ‘city of the sun’, Baalbek, known for its Roman Temple complex, and also a UNESCO heritage site, were forced to empty their homes due to Israel’s terrorizing attempts at erasure. It is worth noting that this is a city first inhabited since around 10,000BC.

Closing Thought

Some of the statuesque lezzab trees sitting on that hill in Hermel are thousands of years old. At this point, it is difficult to count how many have been damaged by the relentless Israeli bombardment – and painful to even think about. The growth of these trees requires patience, as they take decades to mature. In the same way that these old Juniper trees are now witnessing Israel’s severe aggression against the Beqaa, they have also endured the brutality of countless empires throughout history – once thought invincible and immortal. While these empires collapsed and ceased to exist, the resistant trees remained firmly embedded in the Beqaa’s soil.

References

H. Allaw, personal communication, October 13th, 2024 ↩
N. Rahbani, personal communication, November 17th, 2024 ↩
Climate Center (2024). Climate Fact Sheet. Red Crescent. ↩
World Bank. (2021). Lebanon: Climate change overview. Climate Change Knowledge Portal ↩
Verner, D., Ashwill, M., Christensen, J., Mcdonnell, R., Redwood, J., Jomaa, I., & Treguer, D. (2018). Droughts and agriculture in Lebanon: causes, consequences, and risk management. World Bank ↩
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Lebanon: Bekaa Governorate Profile (2014) ↩