EXPLORING FOREST FIRE MITIGATION PRACTICES AND REGULATIONS IN LEBANON

Abstract

In the Mediterranean biome fire is a natural phenomenon that is being intensified due to climate change, fire impact has also become more severe due to changing socioeconomic factors like urban expansion and land use changes. Lebanon is a Mediterranean country that has witnessed recurrent and severe forest fires, which were mostly linked to human activity. Forest fire risk is a factor of fire hazard and fire vulnerability which can be reduced through sustainable forest management (SFM) following both top-bottom and bottomup approaches that tackle the practical fire risk reduction factors while incorporating social and economic factors. This research looks at the alignment between policy laws, plans and applications by looking at national literature and examining the grounds through three differently managed case study sites. Triangulation of interview results, field visit reports and desk research results allowed the recognition of absence in alignment between policies and forest fire management actions in Mediterranean Lebanon, and the identification of factors that influence this alignment. A reflective forest fire management framework shows that forest fire management can be achieved through direct objectives and activities like it is witnessed in the case of nature reserves, or through indirect means by adopting socially and economically driven activities like the case of lands used for economic purposes.