The wildlife of Lebanon refers to the flora and fauna of Lebanon, a country in Asia located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. The country has four main geographical areas: the coastal plain, Mount Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. The climate is Mediterranean, with the coastal regions experiencing hot, humid summers and cool, wet winters, and the elevated areas inland experiencing colder winters with snow that lingers on into the summer. The country offers a variety of habitats for wildlife, including mountains, valleys, marshes, coastal plains, salt marshes and sea coasts.
Geography
The coastal strip is relatively narrow and is a fertile area cropped intensively. Inland from this the foothills of Mount Lebanon rise steeply. The mountain range runs parallel with the coast and is about 170 km (110 mi) long and 56 km (30 mi) wide at its broadest point, and over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) at its highest point. This range is divided from the Anti-Lebanon Mountains by the Beqaa Valley, which is part of the Great Rift Valley system. Two rivers originate in this valley, which is about 16 km (10 mi) wide; the Orontes River flows northwards into Syria while the Litani River flows southwards and westwards before entering the Mediterranean Sea. This fertile area has vineyards and grows cereals, vegetables and fruit. To the east of the Beqaa Valley, the Anti-Lebanon Mountains are orientated in a southwest–northeast direction and the crest of the range forms the border between Lebanon and Syria. The summits here are slightly lower than Mount Lebanon, the daily temperature variations are greater and the winters are colder. The Mediterranean coast extends for about 225 km (140 mi). The coastal plain covers about sixteen percent of the land area of Lebanon but is inhabited by three quarters of the population. The coast itself is mostly flat with sandy bays and salt-marshes and a few rocky capes, but lack of urban planning means that much of the coastline has seen indiscriminate development, with deposit of materials for land reclamation and highway construction. Pollution also poses a problem for the coastal wildlife.
Flora
The natural vegetation of Lebanon has been threatened by overexploitation and fragmentation as a result of urban expansion, overgrazing, tourism, and warfare. The cedar of Lebanon is the national symbol of the country. Growing in the Lebanon Mountain range, these trees have been heavily harvested over the years for their valuable timber and few mature trees still remain Cedars are quite common in the mountainous forests and villages of Lebanon. Many reserves have thousands planted. Nevertheless, Lebanon is more heavily wooded than most other countries in the region, and pine, oak, fir, beech, cypress and juniper are to be found in the mountain areas although the Beqaa valley has little tree cover. Where timber has been extracted and woodland destroyed, scrub has taken over; in the Lebanon Mountain area this is mostly Ceratonia, oak and Pistacia, and in the Anti-Lebanon range the scrub is mostly Pistacia and wild almond. Other native trees such as the Lebanese wild apple, Judas tree and Syrian maple are being grown experimentally as a conservation strategy to see if they are amenable to container production. The Al Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve was established in 1996 to preserve an old stand of cedar in central Lebanon. It covers 550 km2 (212 mi2), which is 5.3% of the country's total area, and includes 620 hectares (1,500 acres) of cedar forest which, with the exclusion of livestock is successfully regenerating. There are 24 kinds of tree in the reserve and 436 species of plant, including about 48 which are endemic to Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. There are some wolves, and other large mammals in this reserve as well. There are mammals outside of reserves, but they aren't safe, hunting for rats, rabbits, and garbage next to villages. With the reduction in tree cover comes an increase in soil erosion and the government has initiated a tree planting program to try to reduce environmental damage and large numbers of trees, including cedars, oaks, maples and junipers have been planted. The Lebanon Reforestation Initiative is an international program set up by the United States Forest Service with funding provided by the United States Agency for International Development in 2014. Apart from trees, there are a large number of flowering plants, ferns and mosses in the country. Many of the plants bloom after the winter rains, and the annual plants germinate at this time, grow, flower and set seed while the soil is moist enough to support them. One plant endemic to the country is the endangered Lebanon violet, found high up in rocky shrubland on the west side of Mount Lebanon.
Fauna
The Middle East blind mole-rat and Günther's vole are found in cultivated fields and are regarded as pests. The rock hyrax is found in rocky habitats in high mountains. Few species of large mammals are to be found in Lebanon because of hunting pressure, overgrazing by domestic livestock and the increasing amounts of intensively cultivated land. Grazing animals include the Nubian ibex, and the roe deer.
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