'Don't play with fire': Launch of national campaign to prevent forest fires
A national campaign to prevent forest fires was launched Tuesday at the premises of the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Jnah, Beirut, attended by Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani, his Environment counterpart Tamara al-Zein, a representative from the Interior Ministry, Gen. Nabil Farah, and the CNRS Secretary-General Chadi Abdallah.
Details of the campaign were announced by Sawsan Bou Fakhreddine, director of the Association for Forests, Development, and Conservation (AFDC), one of the partners. The slogan and hashtag of the campaign, "Don't play with fire," is directed at those who, through a lack of vigilance, could cause fires.
Its goals aim to educate Lebanese people about the dangers of forest fires, their causes and consequences through educational messages. The campaign also aims to support early warning systems at the national and regional levels (volunteers, municipalities, the Risk Management Center under the prime minister's office, etc.) and to "mobilize local communities for forest protection through sustainable management and volunteer-led initiatives," according to the activist.
These volunteers, who live in the regions, are considered "the first line of defense against fire," as shown in a video created as part of this campaign and released during the press conference. As allies of the municipalities, they play an important role in early-warning efforts against fires and in launching initial firefighting efforts while waiting for Civil Defense.
According to Sawsan Bou Fakhreddine, the campaign program aims above all to distribute as widely as possible the daily bulletin on fire risks by region, published by the CNRS in cooperation with the Interior Ministry, as well as guidelines to prevent and combat fires, if necessary. Numerous training sessions are planned for Civil Defense, forest rangers, volunteers and farmers. The latter can play a very positive role in prevention and response, but can also cause fires if they do not cease certain practices such as burning dry grasses, for example.
The general public is also targeted by the campaign's initiators. Special television programs are planned, and awareness content is expected to be shared on social networks until October (late summer and autumn are, contrary to what one might think, the most dangerous season for forest fires due to the prolonged dry period). Specific training and awareness activities are also set in highly wooded areas, especially Akkar (far north), which is affected by severe fires every year.
A risk aggravated by drought
Minister Nizar Hani specified during his speech that this campaign is based on "a scientific and rational approach" aiming to clean forests and woodlands of excess dry biomass, strengthen early warning networks, raise public awareness of the dangers of lighting fires and of the legal provisions against offenders, and improve the capacities of municipalities and environmental associations in this area.
For her part, the Minister of Environment provided statistics to measure the scope of the phenomenon: 4,264 fires recorded in 2023, 6,365 in 2024 and 466 so far in 2025. She emphasized that the unusual drought is an aggravating factor this year. Zein recalled that this national campaign complements the forest fire risk management project, launched a few days ago under the patronage of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
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