The Association for Forests, Development and Conservation (AFDC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment (MoE) is implementing the EU funded project titled: “Towards Developing and Implementing a National Strategy for Forest Fire Management in Lebanon”.

The project (2008-2009) is being implemented at the national level targeting the public sector concerned with forest fire management and control such as the ministries of Environment, Agriculture, Defense and Interior.

The objectives of the project are:

1. To develop a national protocol of cooperation in forest fire management and control and to reach a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) among the Ministries of Environment, Agriculture, Interior and Defense. 
2. To provide basic tools and equipment for forest guards centers and Civil Defense centers in sensitive forest areas for early intervention in fighting fires.
3. To produce and document uniform information and make it available to the Lebanese Army for training its individuals and to upgrade the technical skills of officials from the Civil Defense, the forest guards, and the Internal Security Forces about forest fire management and forensic fire investigations.

The period of the project’s implementation is 12 months, starting March 2008. Until present Different activities within the framework of this project have been implemented. Such activities include, order of forest firefighting equipment and tools, and training of Officers from the Civil Defense, Ministry of Agriculture, and the Lebanese Army on forest fire management and control. Most recently, a common operations room for coordination of forest fire control at the national level has been fully furnished and equipped. Also, experts are in the process of developing a National forest fire strategy to be adopted by all concerned ministries.