Ann Barnard and Josh Haner have come out with an article on the threat to one of the world’s iconic forests. Here’s how it starts.
BAROUK CEDAR FOREST, LEBANON — Walking among the cedars on a mountain slope in Lebanon feels like visiting the territory of primeval beings. Some of the oldest trees have been here for more than 1,000 years, spreading their uniquely horizontal branches like outstretched arms and sending their roots deep into the craggy limestone. They flourish on the moisture and cool temperatures that make this ecosystem unusual in the Middle East, with mountaintops that snare the clouds floating in from the Mediterranean Sea and gleam with winter snow.
But now, after centuries of human depredation, the cedars of Lebanon face perhaps their most dangerous threat: Climate change could wipe out most of the country’s remaining cedar forests by the end of the century.
The story is accompanied by outstanding images. Take a look — it will break your heart to realize what is now at risk.
This is a story being repeated around the world. We notice it in the places we recognize as exceptional, but what of those taken for granted? The ordinary? The common? The problem is wider than we realize.