13.3.4.Local climate change disaster/risk early. 

The Lebanese University supports the local or regional government in local climate change disaster/risk early warning and monitoring. 

The Lebanese university supports the LARI, the Lebanese Agriculture Research Institute, which has created weather forecasting facilities and developed a nationwide drought Early Warning System (EWS) for Lebanese growers. These services necessitate daily monitoring, recording and forecasting. LARI’s experts analyze the gathered weather data and develop information services before disseminating to farmers and the public. But, implementing a functional EWS in Lebanon has proven difficult. First, Lebanon’s rugged topography and multiple agro-climatic zones make it difficult to target farmers. Second, Lebanon’s homogenous agricultural zoning does not properly delineate different agricultural areas. So, EWS information in certain zones may not be relevant for many farmers. And third, to achieve required accuracy levels, Lebanon needs many more long-term weather stations. Until recently, there were five meteorological stations in Lebanon, only three of which have sufficiently long recording histories to properly identify weather anomalies. These stations include Beirut (1888–2003), Ksara Obsy (1921–90), and Tripoli (1931–2003). But this information is less helpful for the rest of the country and building and maintaining new weather stations is expensive. 

DROUGHTS AND AGRICULTURE IN LEBANON 

The Lebanese University organized on April 3-5, 2019, the conference, which covered a series of important topics of present-day concerns with all aspects of risk detection, management and many practical applications in engineering hazards. The primary objective was concerned with Risk analysis, assessment, and management of engineering hazards. A subsequent objective is dedicated to the early warning systems and their vulnerability factors. In particular, discussions focused on temporal and spatial aspects of risks, disaster management as well as vulnerability assessment. To achieve this goal, health risks and case studies on natural disasters such as climate changes, earthquakes, and floods was considered. Emphasizing the importance of the safety and security involved in ensuring hazard mitigation is another central objective. This conference provided the opportunity for the scientific body within their fields of expertise to communicate their experiences on risk evaluation and management. 

The Lebanese University - Faculty of Agronomy, in cooperation with the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (IAMM), concluded a four-day training in Baalbek, within the framework of the Agricultural and Rural Development Program (ARDP), funded by the European Union and implemented by the Faculty and the Municipality of Baalbek. The training focused on good practices in forest management, planning and cultivation with the participation of the Tunisian trainer, Professor Ali Ferchichi. 

The Mayor of Baalbek, Brigadier General Hussein Lakkis stressed the importance of the training and the need for serious and continuous work to increase green areas and establish natural reserves, to improve the environmental situation in Lebanon in general and in the northern Beqaa in particular.The training supervisor, Dr. Salem Darwish of the Faculty of Agriculture at the Lebanese University, explained the objectives of the training and its importance. 

 

The training included seminars, discussions and recommendations on the state of forests in Lebanon and the southern Mediterranean and their non-wood products, and how to improve, develop and protect them, and the  participants emphasized the necessity of forests and their organization, the importance of continuous afforestation, and the economic viability of aromatic and medicinal plants. 

The students at the Lebanese University - Faculty of Public Health (branch 2) began, three years ago, the initiative of proper management of generated waste after being surrounded by rotten and burning trash. They are sorting today for recycling and composting in the campus aiming not to add to the hundred thousand tons dumped in our nature and to reach the path towards Zero Waste. (15/1/2019).  

Waste sorting campaigns began to expand in the faculties of the Lebanese University and reached the Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences (Branch 3) and the Rafik Hariri University Compound in Hadath.Â