UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col started a major afforestation campaign in the Mission’s area of operation in south-eastern Lebanon yesterday. 

The plantation campaign, to be implemented by the Mission’s Indian peacekeepers, started from the main base of the UNIFIL Indian Battalion (INDBATT) in Ibl el-Saqi, and will continue until March-end.

Tree saplings will be planted in seven INDBATT positions as well as the villages of Kfar Hammam, Kfar Shouba and Shab’a, among others.

During the campaign, trees and saplings of pine, oranges, pomegranate and apple will be planted.

The afforestation drive seeks to build a cleaner and greener world as well as environmentally enriched Lebanon, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal number 15, which aims to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managed forests, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Besides its annual afforestation drives, UNIFIL has been working to reduce environment footprints in the communities it serves. The mission has 21 high-capacity wastewater treatment plants, with the capacity to cater to almost 25,000 people within its area of operation in south Lebanon. Its five sludge treatment systems are used to process sewage in an environment-friendly manner. In addition, UNIFIL also has 15 solar plants, accounting for almost 5 per cent of the total energy consumption in the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura.