Aarsal Agroforestry Project
Jouzour Loubnan launches its next project, "Agroforestry using native genetic resources for the development of the local community of Aarsal," funded by the French Embassy in Lebanon through PISCCA (Projets Innovants des Sociétés Civiles et Coalitions d'Acteurs), and BankMed, and in partnership with the Aarsal Cooperative Society.
The project aims to empower vulnerable local communities by improving the incomes of the populations affected by the Syrian crisis and strengthen the capacities of the local municipalities, cooperatives, and organizations. Based on our research and expertise, a nursery is now finally being designed and implemented to produce 40,000 Cherry and Juniper seedlings yearly.
This initiative will contribute to the increase in the green cover of Lebanon and Aarsal specifically. It will also rebuild sustainable and resilient ecosystems in Aarsal, thus combating desertification and cultivating agroforestry's positive effects while leading to financial sustainability for the cooperative.
At Aarsal, where more than 85% of the people are landowners, the inhabitants, with the Cooperative members, planted around two million cherry, apricot, and apple trees as well as grapes vines that lasted around 40 years in the sixties and seventies.
Adapting Aarsal to new nurseries to produce this genetic resource will be beneficial for the restoration of the ecosystems of this region and other places in Lebanon.
