Lebanon the Green. This is what it is called in more arid lands. I hear it anytime I travel to an Arab country:
"Where are you from?"
"Lebanon"
"Ah", they say thoughtfully, "Lubnan al-akhdar!"
Before a wild urbanization replaced most of the green with the grey of concrete, Lebanon was essentially a land covered in forests that even the rocky mountains could not stop. Most reknown of all its species of trees, the Cedar of Lebanon has received homage ever since the days of the Pharaohs, and perhaps even further. There are still large cedar forests hidden where civilization is still reluctant to tread, and enough nature for the above nickname to be justified...
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Above: A cedar of the Barouk reserve.
Next two: Parts of the forest in the location called The Cedars. The forest itself is named Forest of the Cedars of God, a most impressive place crowning the Holy Valley of the Qadisha.
Many a traveller, among them the French poet Lamartine, have abundantly expressed their awe of the place. This small forest is the last remnant of the huge one that provided the Egyptians in wood; Alexander decimated it during the siege of Tyre.
I shot these two cedars in their fresh mantle of snow after the great storms of New Year 1992. My friends and I were stuck inside a hotel for 6 days;
on the 7th day we could exit from the windows and walk around the snowed-in village as well as up to the Forest.
The cedars of Jaje are particularly striking because they grow in such a rocky area, with no soil to hold onto.
Forested mountainland in Qbeyet.
Tannourine, not far below the Cedars; from this area springs one of our mineral waters. For such a small country, Lebanon produces a remarkable number of these: Sohat, Tannourine, Rim, Nada...
Horsh Ehden, a natural reserve like Jaje and the Barouk.
Above: Situated in the North region of the Akkar, Ammou3a is a little-known but luxuriant forest sheltering a large number of cedars.
Right: We make our way across unusually flat land as we hike across the site.
Still in Ammou3a, with Mount Lebanon in the distance.
Left: While Ammou3a is close to an area called Wadi Jehenna ("Valley of Hell", gorgeous despite its name), this area shown here in autumn is called Wadi Janneh -- "Valley of Paradise".
Above: A goatherder in 3Acoura, early summer.
Right: Flowering almond trees in the spring of Jisr-el-Qadi.
