The non-governmental organisation Salam LADC – Lebanese Association for Development and Communication has been working to bring people together in Lebanon since 2006. Its project ‘Trees for Lebanon’ – a reforestation project that brings together women from Syria and Lebanon – has now been filmed by Deutsche Welle – an international broadcaster.

With its IKI Small Grants project ‘Trees for Libanon’, Salam LADC addresses serious forest degradation in at least ten sites in Lebanon through a simplified, cost-effective tree planting method that empowers communities to take action. The project adopts the seedball method in which a variety of local seeds are packed in clods of soil and are sown by scattering them on the ground. Furthermore, the project includes refugee and disadvantaged women, living in the Bekaa valley. Syrian refugees and local Lebanese families alike are often without a regular source of income. Both refugee and local communities have been deeply affected by the ongoing economic crisis in Lebanon and the related rise in underemployment. The production of seedballs provides employment and a source of income for these groups. Deutsche Welle followed their activities on camera to feature Salam LADC’s work as part of their “Global 3000” magazine. Available in English and German.

The project ‘Trees for Lebanon’ is funded and supported by IKI Small Grants. IKI Small Grants is carried out by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative based on a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.