Bird Massacres in Lebanon Inconceivable to Outsiders

Yesterday I meet an American friend here in Arizona. He was wondering about those bird-related posts I was sharing from Lebanon. He wasn't even sure what he was looking at in those photos. Then it dawned on me that the bird massacres there (and elsewhere) are so outrageous as to be simply incomprehensible to many people here. Americans used to strict hunting regulations simply can't imagine that this stuff can even take place elsewhere. (For the record, my friend is not a hunter but is familiar with the fact that hunting is strictly regulated here.)

So, a somewhat-brief explanation to my friends in the US is in order. Although there are real hunters in Lebanon who hunt legitimate game birds in season and legal numbers, there are also the "shooters". To call them poachers would be too gentle. Rather; they are wanton vandals, barbarians, who see some sort of inexplicable, insane, perhaps even orgasmic, pleasure in killing hundreds, even thousands, of birds regardless of species, endangered status, or time of the year. You name it; it gets shot. Songbirds of all types. Golden eagles. Pelicans. Storks. Egrets. Hawks. Falcons. Even owls. They then line up the victims, Daesh- (ISIS- or ISIL-) style, on car hoods or drape them on their bodies and pose for photos that end up on social media. The criminals often show off their muscles in these photos - as if raw athletic ability is required to perpetrate these massacres. Few of these birds are actually eaten (always a part of hunting ethics - waste is unacceptable). A few might get mounted; the rest are simply thrown away.

In the past, so-called hunting in Lebanon was virtually a requirement for manhood. Fathers taught their young kids to shoot songbirds with a BB gun. The caliber of the gun increased with the child's age. Manhood was measured by the larger size and numbers of birds killed. Regulations? What regulations?

With the relative lawlessness of post-2005 Lebanon, an unwilling government, and the explosion of social media, the bird massacres have worsened in recent years.

These "people" are completely ignorant of the ethics of real hunting, ignorant of the benefits of many birds in controlling insects and vermin, and are heartless of the misery they may be leaving behind when they shoot mother birds during breeding season.

But there's hope. The Lebanese government recently busted several vandals who had posted their exploits on social media; without the opportunity to post their "feats" online, there may be less of an incentive to kill so many birds in the first place. The Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) is becoming active in Lebanon, monitoring and reporting lawbreakers. BirdLife International and their partner, The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL), are coming up with educational programs, recruiting legitimate hunters and working with local governments to create "himas"; traditional community preserves where shared resources are protected and illegitimate bird shooting banned and locally enforced.

Dams Threaten to Drown Lebanon's Landscape

I have been following the controversy over the dam at Janneh in Lebanon lately. I hiked this beautiful spot in 1984. http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/360/363/363.7/fareed/lebenv38.html Janneh is Arabic for Paradise. The dam would destroy one of the most rugged, verdant, and historic spots in the country. There are signs it may be a geologically flawed plan, given the karst limestone prevalent in the country; it might even threaten Jeita Grotto, a prime tourist site and source of drinking water for Beirut. I looked around the Internet to find out more about it.

I found this about the dam at Janneh: http://www.arteliagroup.com/sites/default/files/projet/fichesPDF/en/water/eau_barrages_lbn_janneh_dam_ta_0.pdf

The companies involved in this project should be ashamed to have their names tied to it.

I came across the article below. Janneh is only one of some 54 – fifty-four! - dams that are being planned all over the country! http://al-shorfa.com/en_GB/articles/meii/features/main/2011/10/31/feature-02

I am sure some might be acceptable, but I’m sure many others will do irreparable harm to the countryside.

And then I came across this jewel! http://www.grupposimonettisrl.com/mseilha-dam.html (Click on the image for a simulated photo of the dam and lake). A dam next to Mseilha castle! Did anyone even know about this? This is almost as bad as the one at Janneh. It would destroy the visual background of this historic castle (as if the war-era gravel pit near it weren’t bad enough) and drown a river lined with riparian (river) trees – important habitat for the few birds still left in Lebanon and other wildlife.

And, “No!” Minister of Energy and Water Resources Gebran Bassil, these projects won’t help tourism! When I visit Lebanon, I will avoid even setting an eye on the more obnoxious ones like the plague (if they’re ever built). Just as bad; every dam is going to require its own new enormous rock quarry or the expansion of an existing one.

Okay; I realize Lebanon is facing water shortages, made even worse by this past abnormally dry winter. But there are better ways to save water than to build dams:

- Fix Lebanon’s notoriously decrepit water-delivery infrastructure to prevent leaks.

- Create a culture of water conservation. Should we really be building dams so people can continue to hose down sidewalks and building entrances? Some options are low-flow toilets, aerators on water faucets, harvesting rain water off roofs for irrigation, fewer lawns…

- Continue building the small ponds so prevalent in the higher elevations. This would help meet the needs of farmers and reduce the demand for big dams.

The dams would be a relatively short-term solution anyway. If they are built, the following needs to be done:

- Reforest watersheds feeding the dams and create nature preserves. Otherwise the bare soil will erode and quickly fill up the lakes. This is made even worse by the reckless bulldozing and soil dumping that’s so common in Lebanon. (Have you looked at Google Earth lately?)

- The forests will also absorb rainwater, reduce flash flooding during storms, and release stream water gradually during the dry season, so that it can be absorbed by the human population.

- Control bird hunting! Sounds like it’s unrelated to water, but it is! I read an article in the Audubon Society’s magazine a long time ago about the bird massacres of Lebanon. I have it buried somewhere and need to find it, but it analyzes how birds contribute to forest health and therefore erosion and the retention and gradual release of stream water during the dry season.

- Are they safe? Lebanon is like a limestone sponge. Will the water leak around the dam and cause erosion that would undermine them? What if there’s a sudden flash flood that overwhelms the dam? (See above about forests and watersheds.) Would it survive? In 1983, record flooding overwhelmed Lake Powell; Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona could barely release water fast enough, one of the spillway tunnels was severely damaged and rock started to crumble, and there was real fear the dam would give way, creating a catastrophic flood through the Grand Canyon and taking out Hoover Dam and others below, and destroying cities all the way to Mexico.

http://www.hcn.org/40years/blog/the-summer-the-dam-almost-didnt

I live in Arizona, which is experiencing a horrible drought dating back to the turn of the century. Extreme measures are being taken to conserve water and bank it underground for later use. The US went on a dam-building binge around the middle of the last century. Many are silting up, are not filling to capacity due to the drought, leakage and surface evaporation. Some of the smaller ones (the size of the average Lebanese dam) are even being torn down. This country has essentially given up on building huge dams, many of which were pork-barrel projects to benefit special interests such as politicians and construction companies.

Lebanon needs to think this one through before unleashing the bulldozers on its already-ravaged landscape.