Lebanon: the country’s forests are burning, victims of looting

In the vast forests of northern Lebanon, for miles, trunks are cut and pine trees are decapitated illegally. elias Faresa high mountain guide, walks through the vast forest that has been burned down. He still smells of gasoline on a tree trunk cut it less than a month ago. The looters first set fire to the forest, because “it gives them the excuse of supposedly cutting down dead trees, even though it’s forbidden anyway”asserts elias Fares.

In the mountains, journalists from France Télévisions come across wood looters. Their leader refuses to speak to the camera, but he authorizes filming. They are busy picking up dead wood. elias Fares the knows good but don’t want them denounce because it would cause him problems and “it’s not his job to do that”, he said. Two weeks ago, timber traffickers shot each other in the middle of the forest. No law enforcement comes that far. The logs will be resold on the black market. The looters are actually Lebanese who are cold. Samira Bechara and his family helped themselves in the forest. However, it has oil heating. “This year, there is no question of lighting it because fuel oil has become far too expensive”she assures.