Biodiversity, Our Most Valuable Asset!

25 mai 2022

Have you ever wondered about the name of the plants whose scent fills the air in Ain Najm or about those whose flowers add lively colors to our school? In fact, as students, we spend seven hours daily surrounded by quite a unique setting of pines and a plethora of plants and trees without even knowing their names and characteristics. It is in this respect that the eco delegates and some high school students decided to discover the biodiversity in the school and to identify the different species in it. Therefore, on May 20th 2022, we continued the mission that we had started in discovering the biodiversity at school and met up with two environmental specialists. With Ms. Leila Mouawad, one of only three foresters in Lebanon, and Mr. Houssam Cheyban, a restoration ecologist, we learnt that there are native and non-native plants, that a tree’s roots go the same height under the soil and that a tree can actually undergo some changes to protect itself. Also, who would have thought that there are 4 types of cedar trees in the world, and that our national symbol, “Cedrus Libani”, is one of them! In addition, we now know that a plant’s scientific name is used to be able to identify it on an international scale. On our tour, we explored several areas in the school and we were simply in awe, fascinated by our pines or “Pinus Pinea”, the “Toya Oréa”, the beautiful “Jacanda Mimosifolia”, the “Lantana Camara” and many others…It was an afternoon well spent in nature, where we discovered not only the diverse species in our school, but also the beauty and characteristics of each.
Oliver Salem – S2SD