Horsh Ehden


Horsh Ehden is a Nature Reserve located in North Lebanon, it contains a particularly diverse and beautiful remnant forest of the cedar of Lebanon, making the reserve a very important part of the country’s cultural and natural heritage. Located on the northwestern slopes of Mount Lebanon and pampered by mist and relatively high precipitation, a multitude of rare and endemic plants that flourish in it. Stands of cedars are bordered by a mixed forest of juniper, fir, and the country's last protected community of wild apple trees. On a peaceful hike through the forest, the lucky visitor might spot an endangered eastern imperial eagle or Bonelli's eagle, a gray wolf, a wildcat, a Golden Jackal, or a Red Fox. The reserve's beautiful valleys and gorges, with their wild orchids, brightly colored salamanders, mushrooms, and other flora and fauna, are sure to soothe even the most harried visitor.

Natural history

Biodiversity

Horsh Ehden Nature Reserve is rich in species biodiversity. Over 1,058 plant species have so far been recorded in the reserve, accounting for nearly 40% of all native plant species in Lebanon. This is impressive, considering that the reserve represents less than 0.1% of the total area of Lebanon. The forests form a unique assemblage of conifers, deciduous and evergreen broadleaf trees in an isolated climatic phytoregion with a highly varied topography.

Flora

A total of 1030 species of native plants, and another 39 species of native trees, have been identified in the reserve to date. 70 species use "Lebanon" in their names, such as: Cedrus libani, Salix libani, Berberis libanoticum; and 22 species carry names significant to Lebanon, such as Dianthus karami, and Astragalus ehdenensis.
The reserve is also considered the southern most limit to Ciliciam fir.
Some statistics of the native plant species in the reserve:
The main forest plant communities of highest conservation importance are:
Horsh Ehden is the only protected area in Lebanon containing the last remaining forest community of the endemic wild apple of Lebanon.

Fauna

Mammals

More than 27 mammals have been sighted in Horsh Ehden, representing a third of Lebanese mammals. There are mainly six big families in the reserve: insectivores, carnivores, rodents, Lagomorpha, Chiroptera, and Artiodactyls.
Thirteen species are globally threatened and on species is locally threatened and highly endangered, one species is endemic to Horsh Ehden, and four species are considered threatened at global level.
Among the species recorded are: the Cape hare, the wood mouse, the Eurasian badger, the southern white-breasted hedgehog, the Indian porcupine, the Caucasian squirrel, the striped hyena, the least weasel, the wildcat, the gray wolf, the marbled polecat.
The reserve may have also been home to many extinct species in Lebanon such as: the roe deer, the Persian fallow deer, the Anatolian leopard, the Syrian brown bear, and the aurochs.

Birds

Horsh Ehden Nature Reserve is rich in bird life, since it provides a number of different habitats which allows different species to live in it. Among the species recorded 4 species are considered threatened at global level, 5 species are considered vulnerable at regional scale, 18 species are facing unfavourable conditions in Europe, and 57 species are rare in Lebanon.
The species recorded include: eastern imperial eagle, Bonelli's eagle , blue tit, corn crake, Levant sparrowhawk, saker falcon, white pelican, black stork, Egyptian vulture, European bee-eater, sand martin, white stork, common wood-pigeon, great spotted cuckoo, barn owl, and the Syrian woodpecker .

Amphibians and reptiles

There are 23 species recorded in Horsh Ehden Nature Reserve, 4 amphibians and 19 reptiles, 1 species is globally threatened, 1 subspecies is unique, and 19 species are threatened in Lebanon.
The species include: Lebanon viper, Palestinian viper, green whip snake, bridled mabuya, Schreiber's fringe-fingered lizard, desert black snake, common toad.

Cultural heritage and Activities