The Municipal Council of Beirut City is set to plant about 7000 trees, within a year from this date. The types of trees that are expected to be planted are Barakititium, Jacaranda, Olive, Albizia, Magnolia, pine, Ficus, and Chorisia which were selected based on a study that showed their aesthetic value and diversity of colours.
It’s not clear where the new trees will be planted and while this is a good initiative, Beirut is in desperate need of more green areas and trees. I’ve been working in DownTown Beirut for almost 6 months now and there’s a serious lack of greenery down there. It’s all concrete and a couple of trees here and there. When Lebanon was going through a heat wave, it was impossible to walk anywhere around Beirut.
Let’s hope it will the first of many initiatives to make the capital greener and less polluted.