Beiruting News

Under the High patronage and in the presence of H.E. Mrs. Sigrid Kaag, United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon; H.E. Mrs. Milagros Hernando, ambassador of Spain; General Nicolas Raidy, representative of the Lebanese Army; Mr. Chadi Mohanna, General Director of the Ministry of Agriculture; Mr. Nicolas Ritzenthaler, representative of the European Union; and in the presence of a special guest, Mr. Nicolas Hulot, founder of Ushuaïa show; the Lebanese NGO, Jouzour Loubnan, launched its new green initiative 'adoptacedar.org', in its annual fundraising dinner, on Friday, May 6^th, 2016 at Bristol Hotel, Hamra. More than four hundred supporters of reforestation celebrated together during this event Jouzour Loubnan's achievements.

"Adoptacedar.org is an online platform in which every Lebanese can now adopt as many cedars as they wish to and we will make sure to plant, irrigate and protect them for years to come " explained Mr. Raoul Nehme, president of Jouzour Loubnan "Our aim is to reach out to the Lebanese Diaspora, to every individual who want to participate in the reforestation efforts and do not know how, and most importantly to the heart of every Lebanese and awaken in them the importance and urgency of reforestation." Nehme continued.

H.E. Mrs. Sigrid Kaag, United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, highlighted that "the Lebanese flag has a Cedar in it and we should strive together to protect this national emblem", Kaag then stated "the UN offered its free and unconditional patronage to this event because it shares the same believes and values of reforestation". Kaag strongly encouraged all guests to join Jouzour Loubnan's green initiative by adopting their green mission.

Several musicians such as Amandine, the enchanted violinist and Jeanine Kharrat, one of the finalist of the Voice Kids, offered their talent to make this event a joyful celebration in which funds were collected for Jouzour Loubnan's future plantation campaigns.

Founded in 2008, Jouzour Loubnan is an NGO whose mission is to participate in the restoration of Lebanese woodland and promote sustainable forestation mainly in arid regions. To date, around 225,000 native trees have been planted, irrigated and protected, across different regions of Lebanon. Jouzour Loubnan's goal is to increase the woodland area and restore degraded high mountain ecosystems, empower local communities' to protect, manage, and benefit from the projects and promote environmental awareness of natural resources amongst younger generations.