Residents of a 400-year-old monastery not only plan to reopen its doors after over 80 years of closure, but also hope to set an example by conserving its green areas and involving the local community along the way.

“We want to set an example with this land, so that people will learn to come here to appreciate nature,” said Father Antoine Bou Najm, the director of the recently rehabilitated Deir Mar Jerjes monastery in Shawia, near Qornet Shahwan, Metn.

The priest also hopes to make the monastery a cultural, social, and environmental center in addition to a spiritual haven.

While the monastery has not decided how to manage its land, Sami Moundalak, the agricultural engineer charged with maintaining the surrounding land, said that the monastery owns three types of land plots, spanning a total area of nearly 231,500 square meters.

“One is totally covered with a pine forest, and the other two can be at least partially planted with fruit-bearing trees,” he said. “However, the soil here requires a lot of irrigation. So we first have to find sources of water.”

The monastery has already planted several types of locally-grown fruit-bearing trees. AFDC program officer Mounir Abu Ghanem commended the monastery’s move as a “pioneering” act.

“In order to have a protected area, parliament has to pass a law specifying that a certain plot of land should become protected,” Abu Ghanem said. “But once the area is declared protected by law, it becomes the responsibility of the environment ministry, which is then entrusted with its management.”

But the diocese that oversees a monastery does not accept that it transfer the management of its property to the government, Abu Ghanem added.

“For this reason, this monastery’s commitment to conserving its forest, while involving the local community, is a pioneering act,” he said.

Bou Najm was speaking in one of the monastery’s vaulted rooms during a meeting held in collaboration with the Association for Forest Development and Conservation (AFDC).

The meeting brought together members of the community, including area municipal members and environment and agriculture ministry representatives. Speakers discussed their experience in other protected areas in Lebanon, such as the Ehden Forest and the Chouf Cedars Forest.