Environment Department Overview

The YMCA of Lebanon is a major player in the field of environmental protection and climate change awareness. The Department has begun a new project involving the training of Young Environmental Leaders for Environment. In total, 24 youth from all areas of Lebanon will receive training in climate change and other key topics before implementing projects in their communities.

The YMCA has implemented large scale solid waste and waste water infrastructure projects in multiple locations around the country. It recently completed a project to introduce solid waste treatment facilities serving all 56 villages in the Caza of Tyre - over 300,000 people. This center represents a bold step for the YMCA and Lebanon: it sorts out all recyclable materials and processes the remaining organic waste into compost.

In the same project, the YMCA also developed secondary level water treatment centers in nine locations in South Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley: Wadi Jezzine, Haytoura, Shayyah, Aychiyyeh, Ghabbatieh, Rashaya, Al Hosh, and two in Bakka.

A final major focus is on reforestation and forest fire prevention. The department is working with local communities to create sustainable long-term economic incentives for forest protection.

Development of Capacities and Tools for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of the Forest Resources and the Dynamization of Rural Populations in Syria and Lebanon

Funded by the the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Assistance and Cooperation (AECID) and the Technical Center for Forest Studies in Catalonia (CTFC), the first phase of this project ran from 2007 to 2009.

The project’s objective was to develop scientific methods that help integrate plans for managing the Pinus Brutia wealth and sustainability in Lebanon. The project was based on collecting technical information and accurate data related to the Pinus Brutia in its different growth stages. The program required creating a special program on the computer for the forests, which helped to identify the way trees interact with the surrounding changes. Training was given to 15 forest guards from the Ministry of Agriculture on the use of this special equipment to collect the required data. In total, 5,060 Pinus Brutia trees were analyzed and documented. Afterward a socio-economic study was completed of the local communities surrounding 3 Pinus Brutia forests in the North Lebanon region. This information will be required for the second phase of the project in 2010, creating a new approach to community involvement in forest preservation.

Sustainable Environmental Practices and Policies (SEPP) Program

Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), this $7 million USD project ran from 2003 to 2009, benefitting over 400,000 people in two regions of Lebanon.

The YMCA of Lebanon introduced the country to non-mechanical Waste Water treatment using available free resources: gravity, air and sunshine. The largest component of the project was the solid waste treatment facility in Ain Baal which was inaugurated at the end of 2009. It serves 56 villages in the region of South Lebanon. The project has been designed to save thousands of tons of waste from being burned or buried in landfills. Other key outputs include:

  • Five domestic wastewater treatment plants in the district of Jezzine
  • 2,628 Meters of sewer networks in the district of Jezzine.
  • 4 domestic Wastewater treatment plants in the district of Rashaya.
  • 21,658 meters of sewer networks in the district of Rashaya

READ MORE about the Ain Baal Solid Waste Treatment Plant here

READ MORE about the 9 Wastewater Treatment Plants here

Improving Household Waste Water Management

Funded by Care International UK, this project ran from 2006 to 2007, improving waste water management for households in close proximity to artesan wells in South Lebanon.

Integrated Rural Development Project

Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), this $13 million USD project ran from 1997-2002, benefitting 95 towns and villages around Lebanon.

The goal of the IRDP project was to promote stability and sustainable socio-economic development in targeted clusters of remote rural villages throughout Lebanon. An integrated package of project activities designed to meet this goal was designed and implemented in eight clusters, of Akkar El Attika, Tekrit, El Ain, Kfarsyr, Tannoura, Bint Jbeil, Tyre, Jebal El Rihane. These clusters comprised a total of 95 towns and villages.

The YMCA-IRDP addressed identified problems in rural Lebanon, including uneven post-civil war economic recovery, lack of economic opportunities, rural to urban migration, environmental degradation, and disintegrated structures of civic participation in rural areas.

A holistic cluster approach was designed to provide targeted assistance for expanded economic opportunities and improved community service structures in the 95 rural villages covered in the selected clusters. In both its design and mode of implementation, the integrated set of project activities, implemented at the cluster level, intended to:

  • Mitigate the negative social and political consequences of uneven economic recovery
  • Lessen the trend of rural to urban migration
  • Promote local self-reliance, tolerance, and governance
  • Improve community awareness and the practice of appropriate environmental management procedures