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Good practice Imported

Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI) — USAID/US Forest Service National Reforestation Programme

Lebanon · Rachaya · See the Lebanon profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 64% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2011, USAID and the US Forest Service have planted over 1.5 million native trees across Lebanon via the Lebanon Reforestation Initiative, achieving a 76% survival rate - nearly four times historical baselines - through community nurseries and a youth conservation corps.

1.5 million+
Native trees planted since 2011 (2011–present)
76%
Average seedling survival rate
~20%
Historical baseline survival rate for prior reforestation efforts
75
Youth Conservation Corps graduates since 2021
Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI) — USAID/US Forest Service National Reforestation Programme

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
US Forest Service International Programs / USAID
Period
2011-present
Keywords
reforestation, forest management, community livelihoods, youth training

Context

The Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI) is a USAID-funded, US Forest Service-implemented national programme launched in 2011 to reverse Lebanon's forest-cover decline, which has fallen from around 35% to roughly 13% of national land area. Working with local nurseries, cooperatives and municipalities, LRI plants more than 25 native species — including cedar, fir, juniper, pine, oak, wild pear and wild almond — and trains communities in nursery management and forest-based livelihoods. Since 2021 it has also run a six-month residential Youth Conservation Corps.

Results

LRI has planted over 1.5 million native trees, achieving an average survival rate of 76% compared with a historical baseline of around 20% for prior reforestation efforts in the country — a figure independently reported by both the US Forest Service and the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration. A flagship 35-kilometre reforestation corridor runs through Rachaya, near the Syrian border, and the Youth Conservation Corps has graduated 75 young people to date.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Launched 2011, ongoing (15 years); Youth Conservation Corps (6-month residential programme) running since 2021.
Staffing & skills
US Forest Service International Programs (implementer), USAID (funder), local nurseries and cooperatives, municipalities, Youth Conservation Corps trainees (75 graduated since 2021)

Conditions for success

  • Continued US foreign-assistance funding — the programme's own record flags this as a structural vulnerability now in its second decade
  • Local nursery and cooperative capacity to grow and plant 25+ native species suited to specific sites

Common failure modes

  • Long-term durability depends on continued US foreign-assistance funding, a structural vulnerability for a programme now in its second decade

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