Acknowledgement

Introduction

Table of Contents

Appendices

- National Circumstances
 
- Greenhouse Gases Inventory
 
- Energy
 
- Industrial Processes Inventory
 
- Solvent and Other Product Use

- Agriculture
 
- Land Use Change and Forestry
 
- Waste Management
 
- Summary of Baseline Scenario
 
- Baseline Scenario Without
  Climate Change

- Expected Impacts of Climate Change
 
- Project Proposals & Recommendations
  for Future Work
 
- Bio-Climatic Zones
 
- Constraints Facing Climate Change Studies

 
2.6.1 INTRODUCTION

Forests in Lebanon are considered as important natural resources and contain a remarkable range of vegetation. This is most likely due to geographical, geological and climatic factors. The area covered by the forests is relatively low and constitutes around 7% of the total area of Lebanon.

Most of the basic knowledge about the forest cover of Lebanon originates from the FAO mapping of the Lebanese forests in 1966.

There are various forests with different tree species in Lebanon such as, the "God’s Cedars" of Bsharre (North Lebanon), Barouk forest (Mount Lebanon) and Qammouaa forest (North Lebanon). The main widespread forest tree types in Lebanon are Oak (Quercus calliprinos , Quercus infectoria), Juniper (Juniperus excelca), Cedar (Cedrus libani), Fir (Abies silicica), Pines (Pinus pinea, Pinus halepensis, Pinus brutia) and Cypress. The bulk of the forest area consists of Oak and Pine stands and the most climatically favored zone in Lebanon is the western slope of Mount Lebanon. In addition, the Lebanese forests contain diversified species of aromatic, wild, and medicinal plants.

Forests were severely neglected, along with other natural resources during the period of the Lebanese civil war. Therefore, the woodland area of Lebanon has sharply decreased. Deforestation was and still is basically due to the following factors; urban expansion in the mountain areas, illegal tree cutting, unlawful grazing and overgrazing, forest fires and poor management and harvesting policies of the forests. Deforestation has weakened the soil structure, accelerated soil erosion and led to the general degradation of soil quality.

The Barouk Cedar Forest and Horch Ehden (North Lebanon) were designated protected areas by law in 1991 and 1992 respectively . The forest law issued in 1949 and still valid, defines the rules of the forest exploitation, while a recent law introduced in 1996, addresses the issue of forest protection. Currently, a law is under preparation at the MoAg, dealing with the prevision, the prevention and the protection of forest from fire but Lebanon still suffers from improper enforcement measures against natural and man made forest fires.

The Forestry and Natural Resources Service of the MoAg is the main body in charge of the management of the forestry in Lebanon, with the support of various agencies acting under the jurisdiction of the MoAg. Efforts are now underway to restore and protect the forest cover. Several programs on reforestation and afforestation were implemented by the MoAg and several NGOs. The MoE is currently implementing a UNDP-funded GEF project on Protected Areas (started in 1996).This includes the management and conservation of two Cedar forest areas, in" Barouk" (Central Mount Lebanon) and "Ehden" (North Lebanon). The EU is financing a project on "Protection of the Vegetal Cover in Lebanon, Mainly Forest Cover". This project, which started in 1997, is executed by the ONF France, and is expected to be achieved in 1999.

2.6.2 CHANGES IN FOREST AND OTHER WOODY BIOMASS STOCKS

A. INTRODUCTION

The woody biomass stocks in Lebanon are made up of:

1- forest trees;
2- non-forest trees, which include:

     a- farm and village trees (mainly fruit and olive)
     b- urban trees.


An overview of the Lebanese forestry has been mentioned in the above section.

The fruit crops grown in Lebanon include both the temperate zone fruits and the subtropical fruits. Citrus, olives, apples, grapes (not considered as farm or village tree) and stone fruits are the main fruit crops, constituting about 90% of the fruit production area and accounting for 80% of the total Lebanese fruit production. Citrus trees are mainly grown in the south and the north of the coastal plain. Olive trees are mostly spread in the medium elevation mountains and are almost entirely rainfed. Bananas are essentially grown in the south coastal area and more recently in greenhouses using tissue-cultured plants. 75% of apples are grown in the medium and high elevation mountains. The total fruit production has increased during the last decades by about three folds to reach 1.5 million tons in 1994 (1).

Although cutting trees is forbidden by law , some commercial harvest for timber production (charcoal and industrial wood) occurred in 1994. Concerning the data on wood removed from forest clearing, extensive investigation has been made with no results both by the governmental and non-governmental institutions. The loss of woodland area in this submodule includes only the fuelwood consumed and the domestic timber product in Lebanon. The fuelwood energy, considered as a traditional one, represent with the hydropower energy only 1.7% of total energy consumed in Lebanon and it mainly occurs in some mountain villages for heating in the winter season (2). The loss of woody biomass stocks by natural and man made woodland fires has been taken into account on the submodule of forest and grassland conversion.

B. BIOMASS INCREMENT

a. Forest area

Primarily it must be pointed out, that the data related to the forests in Lebanon is more uncertain than in any other field. No comprehensive study of the forest has been conducted during the last decade.

The only available data on the national level are the following:

1- Coniferous forest area 29250,2 ha (around 40% of the total forest area) broadleaf forest area: 43215,2 ha (around 60% of the total forest area)
Total forest area: 72465 ha (3). These data could be considered for 1987 since the most recent of the used satellite images date back to the summer of that year.
2- Rough estimates on type forest/species for 1994 (4), (Table 2.34).

Table 2.34 Rough Estimates on Forest Cover
 

The Table 2.34 estimates on forest types have been broken down into two subdivisions according to criteria provided by experts:

1- Evergreen Forest and Deciduous Forest.

The Oak in Lebanon is mainly made up of an evergreen species, the quercus calliprinosy (around three-quarter of the oak area or 28500 ha), and a deciduous species, the quercus infectoria (around the quarter of the oak area or 9500 ha). In addition, all the Ripisylve (around 1000 ha) are deciduous, while all the other types are evergreen (around 39000 ha) (5,6).

Therefore the deciduous forest area is estimated at 10500 ha (around 13.5% of the total forest area) and the evergreen forest area at 67500 ha (around 86.5% of the total forest area).

2- Coniferous Forest and Broadleaf Forest.

The oak and the ripisylve are broadleaf forest [6], while all the other types are coniferous forest [6].Broadleaf forest covers around 39,000ha and coniferous forest covers approximately the same surface ( table 2.34). Therefore, around 50% of the total forest area are made up of broadleaf forest and 50% of coniferous.

The first subdivision (deciduous and evergreen) has been adopted in this module since the annual growth rate of dry matter necessary to compute the increment of biomass are available for this subdivision only. Nevertheless, the second subdivision, the same as in the FAO source, (coniferous and broadleaf) has been selected later in the forest and grassland conversion submodule since the default values of dry matter in above ground biomass is necessary to compute the quantity of biomass burned and is available only for this subdivision.

Although, the data of the two sources were collected in two different years (1987 and 1994) and by two different methodologies (one by satellite image processing, and the other by field work), and since the data of Mr. Akl is a rough estimation, the average of the data ( 75,000 ha) has been used. The estimate of the total forest area constitutes around 7% of the total area of Lebanon.

Therefore, the following figures are used in the worksheet 5-1 (sheet 1 of 3) to compute the total carbon uptake increment by forest:

- Evergreen forest area: 65000 ha (86.5% of 75000 ha the estimated total forest area)
- Deciduous forest area: 10,000 ha (13.5% of 75,000 ha the estimated total forest area)
- Annual growth rate for Evergreen forests: 2.5 tdm/ha [6]
- Annual growth rate for Deciduous forests: 1.5 tdm/ha [6]
- Default value of carbon fraction of dry matter: 0.5

b. Non-Forest Trees

c. Farm and Village Trees

The farm and village trees are made up as mentioned before in section 5.2. A of fruit and olive trees. The data available are the areas of fruit and olive trees for 1993 (7) and for 1996 (8).

For baseline year 1994, the area data was estimated as follows:

i- dividing fruit and olive trees into evergreen trees and deciduous trees.
ii- calculation of the difference (increase or decrease) between the 1996 and 1993 data, occurring during three years.
iii- division of this difference by three, assuming that the results reflects the difference for one year.
iv - application of the difference (increase or decrease) calculated in step (iii) on 1993 data. (Table 2.35).

Finally, the number of trees for each species was computed from 1994 data using estimates of the number of trees/ha provided by expert judgment (9) (Table 2.36).

Table 2.35 Evergreen Fruit & Olive Trees
 

Table 2.36 Deciduous Fruit Trees
 

Since no studies on annual growth rate for fruit trees have been carried out in Lebanon, it was estimated that the annual growth rate per fruit tree is the three quarter of that per forest tree for both deciduous and evergreen trees [6].

According to expert judgment the cover rate of all forest types in Lebanon is estimated to be around 450 trees /ha[6]. Therefore, this value (450 trees/ha and the values of annual growth rate for both evergreen forest ( 2.5tdm/ha) and deciduous forest ( 1.5 tdm/ha) were used to compute the annual growth rate per forest tree (tdm/tree).

- The annual growth rate /evergreen forest tree is:
2.5tdm/ha =0.0055tdm/ evergreen forest tree 450 trees /ha

- The annual growth rate / deciduous forest tree is :
1.5tdm/ha =0.0033 tdm/ deciduous forest tree
450 trees/ha

- The annual growth rate / evergreen fruit tree is :
0.0055tdm/tree x ¾ =0.004125 tdm/ evergreen fruit tree.

- The annual growth rate / deciduous fruit tree is:
0.33 tdm/ tree x ¾ =0.002475 tdm/deciduous fruit tree

Therefore, the following figures are used in the worksheet 5-1 (sheet 1 of 3) to compute the total carbon uptake increment by farm and village trees:

- Evergreen fruit and olive trees: 21980 thousand trees
- Annual growth rate for 1000 evergreen trees: 0.004125 ktdm
- Deciduous fruit and olive trees: 27714 thousand trees
- Annual growth rate for 1000 Deciduous fruit and olive trees: 0.002475 ktdm

d. Urban Trees

The only official data for urban trees are the number of trees in municipal Beirut and the city surface (10). Although several responsible in different public line organizations (MoPW and several municipalities) have been interviewed, no data related to urban trees in Lebanon could be found. Rough estimates on urban trees were reached by a rapid field assessment conducted by the working team.

It must be pointed out that the coastal zone and few inland cities where the Lebanese population is mainly concentrated are considered as the area of concern in this field assessment. Therefore the number of urban trees was estimated as the following:

i- The urban coastal zone is assumed to have one cover rate of urban trees (trees/ha) while the inland cities were divided into two categories, one (including Aley, Beit-Meiri-Broumana-Baabdat, Bhamdoun Chtoura-Taalabaya-Jlala, Zahle, and Jezzine) is assumed to have a cover rate higher than the other (including Nabatiyeh and Baalback only).
ii- Five cities were selected as representative of the urban area : Tripoli, Beirut and Saida have been chosen from the coastal zone. Zahle was assumed to represent inland cities with a higher cover rate, while Nabatiyeh those with a lower cover rate.
iii- The areas of the urban coastal zone and the inland cities mentioned in (i) have been estimated at the NCRS by image processing using SPOT image 1992, assuming that the urban growth between 1992 and 1994 has mostly occurred within the urban area.
iv- Representative streets have been chosen within each of the selected cities. The number of trees was counted in the chosen streets. The length and the width of the streets were also field-assessed. This allowed us to estimate the streets cover rate of each of the selected cities. (Table 2.37)
v- It was assumed that trees in urban zone exist in the streets and squares only. According to the law 25% of urban areas are dedicated to the roads and squares. Therefore, the streets cover rate represent four times the cover rate of the city.
vi- The number of trees in inland cities has been calculated by multiplying the surface of each city as computed at the NCRS by the respective cover rate of the city as calculated in (v)..
vii- The number of trees in the urban coastal zone has been calculated by multiplying the surface of the urban coastal zone as computed at the NCRS by the average cover rate of Beirut, Tripoli and Saida (total number of trees divided by the total surface) Table 2.38.
viii- It was assumed that in the coastal zone all trees are evergreen, while some inland cities have deciduous trees only. (Tables 2.38, 2.39, 2.40)

Table 2.37 Streets Cover Rate of Selected Cities
 

The following Tables show the data on urban trees as estimated by the working team on Land use change and Forestry:

Table 2.38 Estimated Evergreen Urban Trees in the Coastal Zone
 

Table 2.39 Estimated Evergreen Urban Trees in Inland Cities
 

Table 2.40 Estimated Deciduous Urban Trees in Inland Cities
 

- The total evergreen urban trees as estimated by our working team is:
total evergreen trees in the coastal zone (Table 2.38) + total evergreen trees in inland cities (Table 2.39)
395556 + 51380= 446936 trees or roughly 450000 trees

- The total evergreen urban area is:
coastal zone area (Table 2.38) + total inland cities area which contains evergreen trees (Table 2.39)
9 418 + 1835 = 11253 ha

- The evergreen urban cover rate is:
450000 trees / 11253ha = 40 trees/ha

- The total deciduous urban trees as estimated by our working team is:
35,735 trees or roughly 36,000 trees (Table 2.40)

- The total deciduous urban area is: 1790.5ha (Table 2.40)
- The deciduous urban cover rate is: 36000 trees/1790.5ha = 20 trees/ha

Since no studies on annual growth rate for urban trees have been carried out in Lebanon, it was assumed that the annual growth rate per forest tree is the same as for urban tree (0.005 tdm/ evergreen tree, 0.0033 tdm/ deciduous tree) .

Therefore, the following figures are used in the worksheet 5-1 (sheet 1 of 3):

Evergreen urban trees: 450,000 trees
Annual growth rate for 1000 evergreen urban trees: 0.0055 ktdm
Deciduous urban trees: 36,000 trees
Annual growth rate for 1000 evergreen urban trees: 0.0033 ktdm

As a result the total carbon uptake increment by forest trees and non-forest trees (farm and village trees, and urban trees) is 1690800475 kt C worksheet 5-1 ( sheet 1 of 3).

(Recommendation by team member: Photogrametry technique is an accurate method for future collection of data related to forest trees and non-forest trees using aerial photos scale: 1/10000).

C. BIOMASS LOSS

As required in worksheet 5-1 (sheet 2 of 3), the biomass loss was computed from data on :

a- Fuelwood consumed collected from two sources:

     1- 200-250kt for 1994[4]
     2- 200 kt /y [11]

The value 200 kt/ y has been selected for 1994.

b- Domestic timber production for 1994 [7]

Charcoal: 1.535 kt

Industrial wood: 147.344 kt

Worked wood: 68.419 kt

Therefore the following figures are used in the worksheet 5-1 ( sheet 2 of 3 ):

Fuelwood consumed: 200 kt dm

Total other wood used ( total domestic production): 217.298 kt dm

The total biomass consumption from stocks for 1994 is 417.298kt dm

As a result of section 5.2 CO2 annual emission (-) or removal ( +) by the sub-module changes in forest and other woody biomass stocks has been calculated in the worksheet 5-1 ( sheet 3of 3 ). For 1994, change in forest and other woody biomass stocks was a minor source of CO2 and the annual CO2 emission for that year was 142.4446 of CO2.

2.6.3 FOREST AND GRASSLAND CONVERSION

A. INTRODUCTION

Forest and grassland conversion to permanent cropland is not an activity in Lebanon. Clearing forest for cropland may take place on a limited scale, but this practice when it occurs is illegal. Requested data on that issue are not available (4). Consequently, calculation of estimates of CO2 emissions due to forest/grassland conversion is limited to the carbon dioxide emitted by burning aboveground biomass on-site (immediate emissions in 1994) which occurs from natural and man made woodland fires. The carbon dioxide released from soil is taken into account in section 5.5. Burning biomass on-site is also a significant source of non-CO2 trace gases (CH4, N2O, CO and NOx) and their emission estimates were calculated in this submodule. It must be noticed that the net CO2 emissions from fuelwood consumption appears as a loss of biomass stocks in section 5.2.C, and non-CO2 trace gases from fuelwood consumption were considered in the energy module.

B. CARBON RELEASED BY BURNING ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS ON-SITE

The woodland area in Lebanon is mainly affected by natural and man made forest fires. Data for forest fires in 1994 are not reliable. According to expert judgment, the range of forest fires in Lebanon in 1994 could be assimilated to that of 1995[6]. The later is estimated by the MoAg to be around 1300ha.

As required in worksheet 5-2, sheet 2 of 5, forests were subdivided into coniferous and broadleaf. Sources revealed two slightly different results, as following:

- Coniferous: around 40% of the total forest area.
Broadleaf: around 605 of the total forest area [3]
- Coniferous: around 50% of the total forest area
Broadleaf: around 50% of the total forest area[4]

The average of these two sources was used. Therefore, the forest area was assumed to be made up of 45% of coniferous and 55% of broadleaf and the areas affected by fires were 585 ha for coniferous and 715 ha for broadleaf.

The value of this affected area (mostly forest area) was converted to tons of dry matter. The total dry matter is obtained by multiplying the area of each category by respective dry matter per hectare in aboveground biomass. The values of dry matter in aboveground 257.5 tdm /ha (average of the default value of coniferous temperate forests ) and 35 tdm/ha ( for broadleaf coppice) [6] have been respectively used for coniferous and broadleaf forests.

- Total biomass in coniferous forests affected by fires :
0.2565 ktdm/ha x 585ha = 150.6375 ktdm
- Total biomass in deciduous forest affected by fires is:
0.035 ktdm/ ha x 715 ha = 25.025 ktdm

The biomass burned on site was assumed to constitute around 20% of total biomass [6]. Therefore, the quantity of biomass burned is 30.1275 ktdm for coniferous forests and 5.005 ktdm for broadleaf forest.

The following figures are used in worksheet 5-2 ( sheet 2 of 5 ).

- Quantity of biomass burned on site for coniferous : 30.1275 ktdm
- Quantity of biomass burned on site for deciduous : 5.005 ktdm
- Default value of fraction of biomass oxidised on site : 0.9
- Default value of carbon fraction of aboveground biomass ( burned on site): 0.5

As a result , the quantity of carbon released from biomass burned ( forest fires ) worksheet 5-2 ( sheet 2 of 5) is : 15.809625 kt

Worksheet 5-2 ( sheet 5 of 5) converts the C released emission into CO2. The CO2 emitted from forest fires is 57.968625 Gg.

2.6.4 ON SITE BURNING OF FOREST: EMISSION OF NON-CO2 TRACE GASES

The non-CO2 trace gases emissions from on-site burning of forests (forest fires) are calculated in worksheet 5-3 (sheet 1 of 1 ).

CH4 and CO are estimated as ratios to the carbon flux (15.809625 kt C) emitted during forest fires worksheet 5-2 (sheet 2 of 5). Total nitrogen content is estimated based on the nitrogen-carbon ratio (0.01). N2O and Nox are estimated as ratios to total nitrogen.

- As a result, Trace gas emissions from forest fires are:
- 0.253 Gg of CH4
- 2.213 Gg of CO
- 0.00168 Gg of N2O
- 0.06276 Gg of Nox

2.6.5 ABANDONMENT OF MANAGED LANDS

Different socio-economic factors, namely migration (external and internal), war and the generally low income from agriculture have been the main agents to abandonment of the ancient terraced lands in Lebanon, particularly in Mount Lebanon. It is estimated that there are about 90,000 ha of terraces in Lebanon, of which about 40% (36,000 ha) are either not being maintained or have been abandoned (12).

Nevertheless, some of the abandoned land may have been managed again or may have re-grown towards a natural state, but there is no quantitative data on the issue (4).

In the basic calculation of net CO2 removals in biomass accumulation resulting from the abandonment of managed land, only abandoned lands which are regrowing towards a natural state should be included. Lands that do not regrow or degrade should be ignored in this calculation. Consequently there are no items to be taken into account in this submodule.

2.6.6 CO2 EMISSIONS AND UPTAKE BY SOILS FROM LAND USE CHANGE AND MANAGEMENT

A. INTRODUCTION

The soils in Lebanon are typically Mediterranean in character, exhibiting similarities related to climate, exposure, slope, lithology and vegetation. Most of the soils are calcareous, except for the sandy soils formed on the basal Cretaceous strata. The most widely represented soils are the Terra-Rossa, the Inceptisols and the Rendzinas. On the steep landscapes of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, where water erosion can be extreme, the fersiallitic soils (Terra-Rossa) often develop into Lithosols (3).

According to several experts' judgments (13,14,15,16), organic soils in Lebanon are extremely rare. Consequently, conversion of organic soils to agriculture or plantation forestry is merely occurring in Lebanon. And since most of the soils in Lebanon are calcareous (basic soils), liming is not used in Lebanon. Therefore, the calculation of CO2 emissions or uptake by soil in this submodule is limited to changes in carbon stored in soil and litter of mineral soils due to changes in agricultural land-use practices.

B. CHANGES IN MINERAL SOIL CARBON STOCKS

The net carbon fluxes must be calculated on the basis of changes in soil carbon stocks over a twenty-year period. In this context, the needed data relate to 1994 (the inventory year), and 1974 (for twenty years prior to the current inventory year).They must include for these two years:

- Agricultural land-use practices in Lebanon;
- The distribution (areas) of different soil type according to each agricultural land-use practices:

A lot of effort has been placed on that issue and several experts have been interviewed, namely Dr. Khoury W. (9), and Dr. Baalbaki R. (17) in addition to the experts mentioned in section 2.6.5A. They all agree that the agricultural land use practices could be estimated only for 1994, while the distribution (areas) of different soil type according to agricultural land use practices could not be established neither for 1994, nor for 1974.

Therefore, the data collected and related to the present module are the following:

- Estimates on soil type for selected areas in Lebanon (13,14).
- The extent of irrigation practice as a part of total cultivated land (8).
- Estimates of current agricultural land-use practices in Lebanon (9).
- Estimates on areas for 1974 and 1994 of different soil type by land-use classes based on the FAO land-use map, 1991 (3).
- Unified soil map of Lebanon (scale 1/50000) with database on soil in SOTER methodology ( ongoing project "Assessment & Mapping of land Resources using Remote Sensing & GIS techniques", financed by LNCSR with the cooperation of GORS (Syria) and the Lebanese University, started 1997, expected to be achieved 1999).

The above mentioned sources could be useful for updating purposes, but all data
available to date are not sufficient for the calculation of net carbon fluxes on the
basis of changes in soil carbon stocks in this submodule.

2.6.7 SUMMARY OF THE LAND USE CHANGE FORESTRY INVENTORY RESULTS

For 1994 , the change in woody biomass stocks is a source of CO2 and emit 142.4446 kt of CO2 due to the fuelwood consumed and to the timber production while the emission of CO2 from forest fires is 57.968625 kt.

As a result, forest for 1994 are not a sink of CO2 as they should be, but they are a minor source of CO2 and release 200.413225 kt of CO2. Change in woody biomass stocks contributes by 71% in the emission, and forest fires by 29%.

Click here to view Table 2.41

References:

- Lebanese Republic Agricultural Research Institute "Lebanese Agricultural Research Strategy, LARS", June 1996 - Beirut.
- Mediterranean Environmental Technical Assistance Program METAP. "Lebanon Assessment of the State of the Environment" for the MoE, May 1995 - Beirut.
- Land-cover map produced by the FAO from a combination of satellite images, 1991.
- AKL G. , Head of Rural Development and Natural Resources Department, MoAg. (pers.comm. 1998 )
- DR. MASRI T., Researcher in Agriculture at NCRS Expert Judgment, 1988. ( pers.comm. 1998 )
- KHOUZAMI M., Engineer, Forestry Expert, Expert Judgment, 1988. ( pers.comm. 1998 )
- MoAg, "Biological Diversity of Lebanon", UNEP, 1996 - Beirut.
- Preliminary Results of the Agricultural Census Project, Phase 1, MoAg, 1997.
- DR. KHOURY W., Professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, Lebanese University - Beirut. ( pers,comm. 1998).
- Municipality of Beirut, Gardens department (Pers.comm.), 1998
- Survey Conducted by students under the supervision of professor Chedid R, A.U.B 1998.
- ZRAYK R., Quoted in "Lebanon Assessment of the State of the Environment ", METAP, 1995 - Beirut.
- DR. DARWICH T., Researcher in soil, NCRS. ( pers.comm. 1998)
- DR. KHATIB M., Professor at the faculty of Agriculture, Lebanese University - Beirut. (pers.comm. 1998).
- DR. HAJJ S., Professor at the faculty of Agriculture, Lebanese University - Beirut.(pers.comm. 1998).
- DR. MOUJABER M., Professor at the faculty of Agriculture, University of Kaslik. (pers.comm. 1998).
- DR. BAALBAKI R., Professor at the faculty of Agriculture, A.U.B - Beirut. (pers.comm. 1998).

back