ENFORCE Hunting Laws in Lebanon

The Indiscriminate Killing of any type of Migratory or Resident Birds at any time of the year (and surely increasing at the Migratory Season), ..the shooting that is happening at any location (not just in the Bekaa Valley, or High lands),.. between olive groves, fruit gardens, agriculture fields, between houses in villages, the use of hunting guns by people as young as 7 years old,… this is not just killing beneficial birds that help control the ecological balance (the birds help in harmful insects reduction and therefore directly contribute to a healthy agriculture and to the farmers reducing the use of chemical fertilizers) but also spreading all "heavy metals" / "toxic chemicals" from the bullets shot in the air, powder falling on the soil, on the fruits, olives, vegetables, infiltrating the soil and polluting the ever rare fresh water…

This is simply a Suicidal activity..not just for the country Lebanon but also to the Region and the whole Planet since we are all Connected on our Home, Planet Earth.

The number of migratory birds killed in Lebanon has throughout the years reached an industrial scale with Millions of birds killed yearly (Ministry of Environment, 2001); can you guess how much is it now?

The Rift Valley/Red Sea flyway is the second most important flyway for migratory soaring birds (raptors, storks, pelicans and some ibis) in the world, with over 1.5 million birds of 37 species, including 5 globally threatened species, using this corridor between their breeding grounds in Europe and West Asia and wintering areas in Africa each year. Source: UNDP.

In Lebanon: because of geographical conditions, the flight corridor narrows down to a few kilometers, producing a bottleneck through which the migratory birds have to pass. In the Bekaa plains, the migratory birds' corridor narrows down to 15 km; here, call for action is very urgent. Countless songbirds such as larks, reed warblers, blackcaps, finches and nightingales, but also larger migratory birds such as cranes, white and black storks, hen harriers, ospreys and Bonelli's eagles fall prey to fowling.¨ source: www.euronatur.org

Lebanon is a hugely important country for migration as it is on one of the most important migration routes in the world.

The country is a link in a chain of countries through which the birds migrate i.e. that the flyway is a single unit and that actions taken in one country can have knock-on effects beyond its borders, and that there is therefore a joint responsibility for the conservation of these birds.

In Lebanon, where hunting is a social sport and hunters have no knowledge of nor respect for species, season, timing, laws, private or protected land, or safety of others, practices include shooting, poisoning, capture and trapping using various mostly illegal practices (e.g. glue sticks, light equipment). Migratory Soaring Birds such as eagles, vultures, ospreys and falcons are all hunted despite protection under international law, particularly along the western slopes of Mt. Lebanon. (Source: UNDP, BirdLife International).