More serious for the sake of public health and peace is the issue of the capital’s chronic lack of green space, which concerned citizens and activists addressed tonight at the Nahnoo office on Salim AlKhoury Street in Beirut. Their strategy? To invade the city with guerrilla picnics.

Nepotism in disguise

Recognized as a public space since the 1840s, two thirds of “Horsh Al-Sanawbar” has been closed to the general public since 1995. Wealthier members of society can gain access to the greenest and most appealing parts of the park through personal favors or connections, but everyone else has to make do with the rest.

Mr. Ayoub says that his is problematic for several reasons.

“Beirut is bordered by five suburbs with different cultural, religious and political backgrounds,” he told us. “The tension between these areas increased in the last five years, especially after the multiple political crises that led to the disruption of security and stability in Lebanese society.”

The dearth of public space in Beirut’s “concrete jungle” seems to reinforce these divisions since opportunities for spontaneous interaction never occur. In addition to creating space for children to play and youth to congregate, Mr. Ayoub says that carefully-planned green spaces can bridge the gap between sectarian divisions.

But the municipality has yet to properly acknowledge the benefit of green spaces.

Green space is an inalienable right

“Former Green line president Salman Abbas launched a campaign, in 1999, to turn the 213,000 square meter Hippodrome and Pine Forest into a public garden,” says Mr. Ayoub. The plan included creating an experimental theater, cafeterias and open-air sports and recreational facilities that would help to generate income.

Even this was not sufficiently appealing to the municipality, which told Abbas that Beirut has enough green space. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 40 square meters of green space per person in a city environment. Beirut only offers 0.8 square meters.

A major campaign raised by Nahnoo has raised the profile of Horsh Beirut and government and media are now paying attention to a subject that has languished under the weight of political and personal apathy. With that weight now lifted and energy among dissenters high, Nahnoo is organizing a series of conferences aimed and educating and empowering youth to engage in civic dialogue.

Unless Mr. Hamad makes good on his promises to open the park following a lively municipal meeting, Nahnoo’s posse plans to invade the city by building a series of green spaces in any nook and cranny imaginable. There they will invite their friends to join them for a picnic as a passive means of drawing attention to the notion that green spaces are a human right that many people don’t know they possess.

There’s nothing sinister or violent about this intervention. This is democracy at its best. It is informed, intelligent and it is gentle. And when this park is won, Nahnoo has plans to open three more.

image via Nahnoo

More on Beirut and the Concrete Jungle:

Beirut’s Rooftop Revolution (Interview)

Beirut Activists Try to Green the Grey of Their Urban Environment

Lebanese Democratically Demand Access to Urban Park

The post Beirut Activists to Stage Guerrilla Picnics appeared first on Green Prophet.

In 1696, the Horsh Beirut Pine forest used to be as large as 1,250,000 square meters but the Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans, and World War II allies each took their turn plundering its timber in order to build ships and weapons. Further damage has been done since then to such an extent that today one of the only urban parks in this concrete jungle has shrunk to a mere 255,000 square meters. Although significantly smaller than it once was, Horsh Beirut could still offer residents of Beirut a retreat from the city smog – if the city hadn’t denied access to it for the last two decades. Activists are now speaking out against what they say is a denial of their inalienable rights. Public property

Ten years ago Beirut’s municipality rehabilitated the park (presumably using taxpayer money) but it still hasn’t been re-opened to the public and no decent explanation has been given.

Activists with Nahnoo, a leading organization that empowers Lebanese youth, have taken up the matter by demanding a democratic public forum.

Esteemed members of the public and academic experts will join municipality representatives to discuss opening access of the park to Beirut’s residents so that they have a space to escape from the endless drone of vehicles and concrete buildings.

A Facebook invitation for more than 2,600 citizens has been established to encourage participation in the forum that is to be held at the Maddina Theater in Hamra, Beirut on the 8th of February. The event next Wednesday is expected to last from 7pm to 10pm.

Organizers claim that “the largest green park in Beirut is a public property and a right for all. Yet, it has been closed for public for more than twenty years and only few people are granted the right to access it.”

The democratic process

But the reasoning behind the closure may not be so simple, which is why Nahnoo invites the public to explore the challenges surrounding Horsh Beirut – the most significant carbon sink in the city.

The event will be attended by Mr. Mohammad Ayoub’s, Nahnoo’s Executive Director, Mr. Eric Bouvard, the municipality of Ile De France in Beirut’s representative, and Mr. Nizar Saghie, the Beirut municipality’s lawyer.

Mr. Gilbert Doumit will moderate the forum, which will be followed by a  small cocktail party and an exhibition of a collection of photographs taken of the park over the years.

While Egyptians march against police brutality yet again, and al-Assad continues his terrible crack down in Syria, Lebanese residents are turning to a peaceful democratic process in order to achieve their goals. We are definitely rooting for them.

:: Nahnoo

image via Sarah Owermohle, Flickr

More on Lebanon’s Concrete Jungle and Green Space:

Beirut’s Rooftop Revolution (Interview)

Professor Urges Regulations to Prevent Further Fatal Building Collapses in Beirut

Beirut Activists Try to Green the Grey of Their Concrete Urban Environment

The post Lebanese Activists Democratically Demand Access to Horsh Beirut Urban Park appeared first on Green Prophet.