Covering an area of 1,260 hectares, the country’s 18th nature reserve is located near Rashaya el-Wadi. According to one tradition it is where the transfiguration of Jesus Christ took place. It is home to 124 plants used by local communities to treat various medical conditions.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – The Lebanese Parliament has voted to make Mount Hermon, known in Arabic as Jabal al-Shaykh (Mountain of the Sheikh), the country’s 18th nature reserve.
Lebanon’s lawmakers passed the bill recently marking the end of two years of work by municipal and district leaders (Rashaya, western Beqaa) as well as government ministers.
The 1,260-hectare area, near Rashaya el-Wadi, is now legally protected. The reserve is not only a haven of biodiversity, but also holds great historical and symbolic value since, according to tradition, it is the place of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ.
For this reason, over the years, it has become a magnet for religious believers, tourists, environmentalists, and ordinary people passionate about nature.
The creation of the new reserve will make it possible to better protect Mount Hermon’s natural environment from pollution, especially its land and groundwater.
It will also be possible to stabilise the natural landscape, which includes wetlands and all the ecosystems that depend on it.
The mountain is famous for its wide variety of plants, many of which possess great medicinal properties, its evergreen trees, rare animals, as well as migratory birds.
Speaking to L'Orient-Le Jour (LOJ), former Lebanese Environment Minister Fadi Jreissati praised the new law, expressing hope that other parts of the country with great natural riches will also be turned into nature reserves.
Rashaya MP Wael Abou Faour also reacted positively to the announcement, especially since he spent a great deal of time on this environmental project.
“The adoption of the bill will preserve the mountain’s entire ecosystem and will enhance its natural, environmental, religious and historical potential, encouraging tourism,” Faour said.
The new Mount Hermon reserve also boasts a peculiarity. Since it is covered by snow for most of the year, it continuously replenishes local aquifers. That is why it is one of the main underground water reserves in the region, a real “water castle”.
Many of the plants found on the mountain are well known to the local population for their medicinal properties, as reported by a study published in the Journal of Pharmacology, which documents their use and provides related data.
Overall, about 124 plants are used by local communities to treat various respiratory, digestive, liver, and skin diseases as well as diabetes and other chronic ailments.