Current view: Text account
Site description (2014 baseline):
Site location and context
The best remaining stand of cedar
Cedrus libani forest in Lebanon, in a mountainous, rocky area at 1,750 m, covered in snow between December and March. The forest is relatively open, with much scrub, and about 10% of the area is under cultivation. Currently the area is primarily used for hunting, tourism and recreation, secondarily for forestry, rangeland and wildlife conservation.
See box for key species. Other breeding species include
Alectoris chukar (if not extinct),
Lullula arborea,
Eremophila alpestris,
Anthus similis,
Oenanthe oenanthe,
O. hispanica,
Sylvia hortensis,
Parus lugubris,
Pyrrhocorax graculus (possible),
Emberiza cia (possible) and
E. caesia. Migrants include
Ciconia ciconia.
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: Canis lupus (V), Sciurus anomalus (relict), Mongoose (present at site, highly endangered in other parts of the country. Flora: there are many endemic plants, and Cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani)
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Major problems include persecution and excessive hunting and disturbance of birds, abandonment of traditional forest management, excessive soil erosion and a fungal disease attacking the cedars. Drought, fire, logging and overgrazing are also causing forest loss and degradation locally. There is no forest management plan. A national nature education center is planned, given the site's great potential for tourism, recreation and education in the future. The area has been nominated as a natural World Heritage Site by the Lebanese government.
Data-sheet compiled by Assad Serhal.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Shouf Cedars Nature Reserve (Lebanon). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/shouf-cedars-nature-reserve-iba-lebanon on 23/12/2024.
