Editing Reforestation (section)

==== Lebanon ====
For thousands of years Lebanon was covered by forests; one particular species of interest, ''[[Cedrus libani]]'' was exceptionally valuable and was almost eliminated due to lumbering operations.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Forest and landscape restoration in Lebanon |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/plant/tree/ |access-date=25 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317095406/https://www.britannica.com/plant/tree |archive-date=2018-03-17 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Many ancient cultures along the Mediterranean Sea harvested these trees including the Phoenicians who used cedar, pine and juniper for boat building, the Romans, who cut them down for lime-burning kilns, and the Ottomans, who used much of the remaining cedar forests of Lebanon as fuel in steam trains in the early 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lebanon National Forest Program 2015–2025, Ministry of Agriculture |url=http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/leb163865.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526042046/http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/leb163865.pdf |archive-date=2018-05-26 |access-date=2018-05-25}}</ref> Despite two millennia of deforestation, forests in Lebanon still cover 13.6% of the country, and other wooded lands represent 11%.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 April 2016 |title=Forest and landscape restoration in Lebanon |url=http://www.fao.org/in-action/forest-landscape-restoration-mechanism/resources/detail/en/c/412643/ |access-date=24 May 2018 |publisher=FAO}}</ref>

Law No. 558, which was ratified by the Lebanese Parliament on April 19, 1996, aims to protect and expand existing forests, classifying all forests of cedar, [[fir]], high juniper, evergreen cypress and other trees, whether diverse or homogeneous, whether state-owned or not as conserved forests.<ref>{{cite web |date=24 July 1996 |title=Lebanese Forest Conservation Law |url=https://jabalrihane.wordpress.com/2007/11/17/lebanese-forest-conservation-law/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526042207/https://jabalrihane.wordpress.com/2007/11/17/lebanese-forest-conservation-law/ |archive-date=26 May 2018 |access-date=25 May 2018 |publisher=Jabal Rihan}}</ref>

Since 2011 more than 600,000 trees, including cedars and other native species, have been planted throughout Lebanon as part of the Lebanon Reforestation Initiative, which aims to restore Lebanon's native forests.<ref>{{cite web |date=10 January 2017 |title=Restoring Lebanon's cedar forests |url=https://share.america.gov/restoring-lebanons-cedar-forests/ |access-date=24 May 2018 |publisher=Share America}}</ref> Projects financed locally and by international charity are performing extensive reforestation of cedar being carried out in the Mediterranean region, particularly in Lebanon and Turkey, where over 50&nbsp;million young cedars are being planted annually.

The Lebanon Reforestation Initiative has been working with tree nurseries throughout Lebanon since 2012 to grow stronger seedlings with higher survival rates.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sowing Seeds Today for a Better Tomorrow |url=http://www.lri-lb.org/en/nurseries.php#nurseries |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526112706/http://www.lri-lb.org/en/nurseries.php#nurseries |archive-date=26 May 2018 |access-date=25 May 2018 |publisher=Lebanon Reforestation}}</ref>