Nature Conser vation Center for Sustainable Futures
winter 10
Editorial
No.27
The Newsletter of the Initiative for Biodiversity Studies in Arid Regions
The diversity of nature and the diversity of disciplines at AUB
Professors from different departments gather to discuss Ibsar projects
‘That they may have life and have it abundantly’, how many have used our motto to support a case or an idea? I am no different, and today I interpret AUB’s motto as follows: ‘That they may conserve life and live sustainably’…The fate of biodiversity is dependent on people; and peoples’ well-being is coupled with respect towards the environment and conservation of nature and its resources. How do we plan our students’ educational experience to relay the interconnectivity between biological conservation and human well-being? This will require a diversity of disciplines from different departments, different schools, and different individuals. Our students, the future generations, will graduate - each with a strong foundation in the discipline of their choice - yet for them to become users and guardians of nature, they will need to acquire the ability to perform in cross-disciplinary teams. At Ibsar, we are collectively striving to train students to become ‘good’ individuals, with strong interests in promoting positive rather than competitive human interactions, to negotiate rather than impose varying interests and priorities, and to effectively communicate their ideas not only to exclusive peer groups but to various sectors of society; in other terms, preparing graduates to work towards a more humanistic and sustainable society. For the past ten years I have worked with colleagues from various disciplines and with the University administration to promote AUB’s academic impact on nature
and society. What I learned from my professional experience is that collaborating with faculty members is primarily an interpersonal process. However, this is based on the willingness of individuals to combine their efforts and expertise to achieve mutual growth. It is about individuals interested in engaging in open collaboration and dialogue and through integrating their activities with others. I did not really analyze the level of my undertaking, but according to published literature, I was ‘apparently’ engaged in multidisciplinary, inter-disciplinary, and trans-disciplinary activities… Regardless, the most effective approach to open doors for collaboration was to identify individuals interested in establishing a partnership to support each other’s work and aspirations in order to provide tangible support for AUB students, in particular, and society at large. Identifying partners was not an easy task. In many instances we had to face disciplinary prejudice from peers who looked down on us or avoided associating themselves with Ibsar. Possible reasons would include our failure to conform to the conventional ‘hard core’ disciplines, or maybe because such associations did not give the right recognition to the individual’s department or School. Despite these hurdles, the academic environment at AUB remained permissive, open, and enabled me to engage in multidisciplinary projects at Ibsar. These collaborations were typically more time consuming due to longer horizons and aims for tangible outcomes. However, along with Ibsar members, we were successful in creating an environment conducive to diversity with no gender differences, no discrimination, and no academic hierarchy. Working under Ibsar’s umbrella, we spent a lot more time understanding each other while learning about each other’s vision, methods, and goals. We experienced the pressure to fulfill disciplinary expectations and had to extend our working hours to compensate for the need to cooperate with various disciplines. These interactions were effectively unplanned team-building experiences. Our collaborations within the Center’s agenda, however, suffered the loss of colleagues who left the University because they were not promoted. In retrospect, the basis for sustaining a working relationship between disciplines within the Center was the individual’s wish to be part of this platform. Faculty members joined Ibsar with the intent to collaborate and to serve as a team member, to provide academic input, and to support and appreciate the value of other disciplines. Ibsar is a patchwork of discreet disciplines; through the processes and dynamics of working together toward common goals, our students learn from us about the integration of disciplines by either observing us or by being part of our team. Ultimately, the responsibility for preparing interdisciplinary thinkers still depends on every individual faculty member. It is therefore important to keep Ibsar as a fluid platform for synergetic collaborations that complements existing programs and departments and that the Center does not become exclusive itself; otherwise we will end up Salma N. Talhouk
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defining territories or academic barriers that we initially worked at breaking.
Days of Science
Ibsar promotes bioconservation in Days of Science exhibition Arts and crafts, preparing organic paint, extracting Phoenician purple dye from the murex shell, recycling banana stalks, memory games with cards, and more were part and parcel of this year’s Days of Science, which was held at the Beirut Hippodrome between the 14th and the 17th of October 2009 from 3:00 pm. to 10:00 pm.
AUB Student Volunteers & Assabil join forces with Ibsar in Days of Science
Days of Science is an event organized by the Ministry of Culture designed to encourage various institutes and organizations to implement a wide variety of games and experiments that are addressed towards bringing science closer to audiences. Ibsar collaborated with Assabil Network for Public Libraries to participate in this year’s Days of Science exhibition. More so, the Center for Civic Engagement and Community Service (CCECS) provided a group of AUB student volunteers who proficiently handled this year’s Days of Science event themed Khalik Baladi; Let’s Go Native. Assabil introduced traditional riddles and proverbs as well as a board game on the benefits of native medicinal herbs, in addition to exhibiting their mobile public library bus called “Kotobus” in which children read stories and engaged in discussions about the importance of nature conservation. This year’s Days of Science also featured a Hakawati, Ahmad el Aideh, who gave a short one-man play that involved the crowd by testing their knowledge about biodiversity, medicinal plants, and native trees. Ibsar’s role in Days of Science 2010 included hosting games about bioconservation such as fruit identification and other games focusing on native trees, arts and crafts where kids are given materials to design trees and express nature through art, and experiments, including showing children how to recycle and how to make lotions from environmentally-friendly materials. 3
A group of students participating in Ibsar games
Children getting introduced to the native species through Ibsar games
Nayla Abu Izzeddin, a member of Ibsar’s organizing team for this year’s Days of Science said, “This year the visitors ranged from kids of all ages to parents, and everyone was captivated by the games and experiments we had to show them. Although this project was extremely tiring, at the end of the day it was satisfying to see the kids engage in bioconservation and the preservation of natural heritage.”
ESFD
Hiba Krisht
Ibsar reaches out to Lebanon’s educational community Ibsar undertook the weighty project of visiting schools in remote areas of Lebanon as part of their nature conservation youth awareness program. The project, which was funded by the Economic and Social Fund for Development (ESFD), aimed at providing 22 public and private schools with awareness sessions starting by a story projection of Dr. Suess’s Lorax which emphasizes the importance of protecting trees, followed by a step motion animation to demonstrate the benefits of planting native trees, and two educational exercises to identify the several kinds of native trees and learn how to count the age of a given tree. Nayla Abu Izzeddin, the project’s coordinator, with the help of her assistant Miriam Mattouk and a handful of volunteers visited 22 public schools averaging about 60 school children each, spanning Lebanese territories ranging from Akkar to Nabatieh, Hasbayah and Tyre. “We faced many challenges,” Abu Izzeddin said. “The hours were long, travelling was tiring, and the schools we visited had very poor conditions. Some of the schools were nothing more than a house donated by the people of the village. Sometimes there would be no electricity and we were not able to use Powerpoint to tell our story or to screen the animation. Even though it was a difficult project to undertake,” Abu Izzeddin said, “it was very rewarding because the schools we dealt with were very hospitable and welcoming, and they appreciated what we
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Enjoying the animated movie
were there to do.” Despite the setbacks, the students were
very
enthusiastic
and attentive. They were responsive
and
showed
sufficient
understanding
of the key concepts of the Lorax, the picture game as well as the ‘learn the age of the tree’ game, when Children in a public school in Akkar, North Lebanon
provided with a suitable venue.
Mattouk commented on the children’s reaction to the activities they brought. “The kids were very excited to see newcomers to their school; we looked different to them and we brought along activities and games that were new to them. They were fascinated by what we had to show them,” she said. Even in schools that had no electricity, the
coordinators
managed
to make the most of the time available playing games with the children outdoors and verbally sending the message that the movies were intended Miriam Mattouk
to transmit.
Horeca 2010
The students waving goodbye after having received their gifts from Ibsar & ESFD
Community Healthy Kitchens participate in HORECA 2010 One of the tangible outcomes of a two-year research project in 2005 entitled “Wild Edible Plants: Promoting dietary diversity in poor communities in Lebanon”1 was the establishment of Community Healthy Kitchens in the three communities of Kwakh, Aarsal and Batloun. With the aims of reviving the production and consumption of traditional foods and wild edible plants, conserving traditional culinary knowledge, improving the livelihood of village communities, and empowering rural women, the Community Healthy Kitchens were able to sustain themselves through participating in various farmers markets (i.e. Souk El Tayeb) as well as through caterings to local and national events including weddings and conferences. Partnership with AUB-Ibsar resumed with the second funding from IDRC for a multidisciplinary study entitled “Food and Health in Rural Lebanon: Options to 1 Research Project led by Professor Malek Batal of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science in collaboration with ESDU and Ibsar funded by the International Development Research Center (IDRC)
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improve
dietary
diversity,
food
security, livelihoods and
ecosystem
management” collaboration
in with
University of Ottawa and the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science at AUB in March 2009. One of the components directly
Women from Batloun & Aarsal Healthy Kitchens gathering after a successful event
linked
with the kitchens is the development, testing and implementation of an enhanced food safety program. Ibsar continues to support the Healthy Kitchens and recently facilitated their participation at this year’s Horeca, in Biel, Beirut on April 29th. Horeca is an annual hospitality and food event featuring professionals from the hospitality industry, and organized by Hospitality Services S.A.R.L. It is not the first time that the Community Healthy Kitchens participate at this event. This year, both Batloun and Aarsal Community Healthy Kitchens exhibited their cooking talents and served traditional rural foods at the Atelier Gourmand stand, where international chefs demonstrated their cooking talents and where visitors were invited to participate in tasting sessions. The 2010 theme was “Exploring the Culinary Treasures of Lebanon: Preserving yet Reinventing Traditional Dishes for Today’s Palate”. The show was animated by New TV’s Chef Richard El Khoury and Ms. Barbara Massaad, author of Man’oushé. Ms. Iqbal Bou Saleh, Ms. Noura Bou Saleh and Ms. Mouna Kamal Hassan from the Batloun Healthy Kitchen, and Ms. Halimeh Mahmoud Al Hujeiri and Ms. Halimeh Abdallah Al Hujeiri from the Aarsal Healthy Kitchen collaborated in cooking food while answering the animators’ The
Healthy
questions. Kitchens
entertained the audience for three hours while preparing various sweet and
salty
traditional
dishes and having visitors and passers-by taste the Horeca 2010 at Biel, Beirut
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final products.
Aarsal kitchen prepared and served potato kibbeh and stuffed vine leaves with bulgur. Batloun kitchen, on the other hand, made and served their sweet and delicious kaak (cookies) and makshoura, both using famous home-made grape molasses from the Chouf. Despite the villages’ remoteness to Beirut, limited marketing budget, and the humble presentation and decoration, the unique and distinctive concept of the Healthy Kitchens was enough to attract attention of passers-by. This year’s theme at Horeca was an ideal opportunity for the kitchens to promote their goals and vision and exhibit their products to a primarily urban target audience.
Power of Planting
Dima Ousta
Power of Planting 2009-2010: Village Tree Planting – Season II
AUB Student Volunteers enjoying a tree planting trip
In its second season of Power of Planting, Ibsar coordinated the planting of 9000 trees from 20 species native to Lebanon from December 2009 until the end of February 2010. It was, in fact, the hard work and dedication of AUB volunteers, mobilized by the Center for Civic Engagement and Community Service (CCECS), which resulted in the successful planting of nearly two-thirds of those trees. Through this citizenengaged village tree planting project, Ibsar intends to involve even more members of the communities throughout Lebanon to plant native trees in public areas. “We’ve learned a lot of new things from this last planting season (2009-2010),” said Ibsar’s Arbi Sarkissian. “We need to engage more people in the process. One of the most important things we’ve A group of energetic AUB student volunteers taking instructions
achieved is sparking the
from the Field Coordinator before starting to plant.
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interests of AUB students as well as students from primary
and
secondary
levels in tree-planting. The advantages of tree-planting are not only environmental. We are essentially helping to Tree planting in Ain Zebde with the help of AUB student volunteers
bridge
generational
social
and
gaps.
In
essence, this program is
helping bring both people together, both young and old, to see parts of Lebanon that maybe never had a chance to, and meet their fellow countrymen and
women,
while
at the same time do something
beneficial
for their country and its biodiversity.”
Tree planting in the deforested area of Qana
The actual planting of the trees is only one aspect of nature conservation. The followup process of tending and maintenance to ensure the trees’ survival is just as, if not more, important. The planting process is a learning process as well; it enables the community member to learn about every aspect of the Power of Planting, including the knowledge and understanding of native tree species, where they grow, and what sorts of ecosystems they are part of, as well as knowledge about collecting the seeds at the right times, properly germinating the seeds into saplings and seedlings, and finally transplanting these seedlings into the wild. “Once the seedlings are transplanted into the fields, they need a lot of follow-up because during the dry summers, noxious weeds compete for water while grazing animals also pose a threat to their survival,” said Sarkissian. “That’s mainly why we have developed a post-planting strategy that includes springtime maintenance, spot-watering of the seedlings in the summer, as well as stone-mulching around the
U.S. Forest Visit
Hiba Krisht
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seedlings that helps conserve water in the soil.”
Reforestation and nursery management ideas gleaned from U.S. forest visit Ibsar members were able to visit nurseries, planting sites, and seed orchards during their United States forest
visit.
Arbi
Sarkissian,
outreach
project
coordinator, and Khalid Slim, field coordinator and agriculture engineer were invited to fly to the United
Ibsar at the Department of Agriculture at the forest planting site
The team preparing to start a day in the forest
States as part of the U.S. Forest Service International Program (USFS-IP). The USFS has been in contact with Ibsar, the Ministry of Environment, and the Association for Forest Development and Conservation for over a year with the objective of collaborating towards reforestation and the protection of forests and woodlands in Lebanon. The three institutions were brought together for a reforestation study tour in the northwest United States. The tour began with a visit to the USFS headquarters in Washington, D.C., where Sarkissian, Slim, and the representatives of the other two institutions met with three retired USFS consultants, Mike Ablutz, Bill Jones, and Al Saberniak, who specialize in silviculture, which includes managing forests for timber, lumber, paper, and building materials. Their job is to replant trees in the place of those that they fell. Sarkissian and Slim then began their trip touring the northwest. One of the places they visited the Savenac nursery in Idaho, which was established in the early 1900’s at a time when the Western expansion of the United States led to increased woodfelling in order to supply railways and housing. “At that time, they were planting millions of trees a year. It’s no longer in use now, and serves a historic landmark,” said Sarkissian. In Slowey, Montana, Sarkissian and Slim learned about the importance of managing forests and cleaning underbrush in order to combat the buildup of forest fuel that can be catastrophic in the case of a forest fire. “In really dense forests, fires can reach the canopies and ladder up into the crowns of the older trees,” Sarkissian said. “Learning the strategy for combating this is vital.” Studying the trees in the forest
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The University of Idaho seed orchard is a site for developing strains that are resistant to pests for use in reforestation for the timber industry. The university also has facilities where large-scale production of seedlings takes place, along with research into the embryonic viability of seeds. “We learned about natural grazing repellents there,” said Sarkissian. “This will prove very useful in remedying the problems of goats and sheep eating the young seedlings we plant in Lebanon.” Sarkissian and Slim also visited nurseries and planting sites in Medford, Oregon and Yreka, California. “The whole tour was highly fruitful for a number of reasons,” said Sarkissian. “It brought the three institutions together to work towards the common goal of introducing reforestation techniques used in the United States to Lebanon. Best of all, we got some nursery management ideas and products, as well as contacts for supplies and services.”
Village Nursery
Hiba Krisht
Village Nursery plants seeds of hope Ibsar created a new village nursery
in
the
village
of
Mishmish in the Akkar region, complete with seedling boxes and furnished with tree species native to the region. BankMed sponsored the nursery as part of their Happy Planet campaign, and during the event, the village’s community members and students from its schools came as part of the initiative for the community to take charge
Khaled Sleem (Ibsar) presenting the objectives of the nursery to the people of Mishmesh
and be accountable for its own strategies in preserving nature. “When we launched the nursery, I was very pleased to see so much of the local community come out and support the project,” said Ibsar’s Arbi Sarkissian. “When we brought out the containers to demonstrate how the planting process works, we found that they were very efficient and worked well together. The older youth were delegating tasks to the younger children, and everyone was generally cooperating.” People from Mishmesh village participating in the preparation of their village nursery
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Among the tree species planted in the nursery are the Cilician fir, the Lebanese
cedar, and the turkey oak. The seedling boxes with reusable plastic partitions were filled with an organic soil mixture, and seeds were planted in each of the partitions. Up to 8000 seeds were planted in the nursery, making Mishmish the future source of trees for other villages in the region that need them for reforestation, tree-planting, or any other conservation Setting up the village nursery in Mishmesh, North Lebanon
or
planting
project.
“It was a very inspiring and pleasant experience to witness how, if there is conviction and continual follow-up and engagement on our part with the community, the local population will take part in this need to preserve their land and work towards beautifying it in the right way,” said Sarkissian.
Mounir Abi Said Thesis
Hiba Krisht
Dr. Mounir Abi Said dispels hyena myths Through his thesis, “Reviled as a grave robber: the ecology and conservation of the striped hyena in human-dominated landscapes of Lebanon”, Dr. Mounir Abi Said of the biology department has worked in the spirit of conserving biodiversity, which is at the core of Ibsar’s mission. The first to work with hyenas in Lebanon, Dr. Abi Said’s thesis aimed at resolving the human-animal conflict regarding striped hyenas. Before his project, statistics showed that 64% of people believe that hyenas mesmerize people with their eyes, and 36% believe that hyenas use supernatural powers to hypnotize. Traditionally viewed as grave robbers and dangerous to livestock and people, hyenas are actually an important part of the ecosystem and play an active role in preserving the environment. “They are scavengers, so they eat only animals who are weak and sick or already dead,” said Dr. Abi Said. “This is very important for the ecosystem because their strong jaws and the acid in their stomachs are able to recycle bones and return them to nature, where they enrich the soil.” Hyenas also control diseases by eating dead animals that are infected. They also eat fruit and distribute the seeds. Dr. Abi Said conducted a small comparative experiment where he observed that seeds extracted from hyena feces germinated much faster than those taken directly from the carob tree.
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To resolve the humananimal
conflict,
Dr.
Abi Said undertook an awareness campaign that involved taking students to an educational center for wildlife conservation, giving them a lecture aided with audiovisuals about wildlife and its various issues, and then Dr. Mounir Abi Said taking samples from a sedated striped hyena.
letting them visit the rescued animals in the
shelter. Results show that the awareness program changed the views of 82.5% of people. “We were able to show the students that hyenas don’t attack people or livestock, and we dispelled most of their myths surrounding the hyena’s status as graveHiba Krisht
robber and hypnotist,” Abi Said said.
Send your news, articles, and editorial comments to Ibsar@aub.edu.lb. Visit the Ibsar website at www.Ibsar.org. Edited by S.N. Talhouk, Mazen Ghalayini and Arbi Sarkissian Designed and produced by the Office of Communications
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