Horsh Ehden is a Nature Reserve located in North Lebanon. It contains a diverse forest of the

cedar of Lebanon ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...

, making it a part of the country's cultural and natural heritage. Located on the northwestern slopes of

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

with high precipitation, it hosts numerous rare and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

plants. Stands of cedars also include a mixed forest of

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

, and the country's last protected community of wild apple trees. In the forest are endangered eastern imperial eagles or Bonelli's eagles,

gray wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

Golden Jackals The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and regions of Southeast Asia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy y ...

, and

Red Foxes The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, p ...

. Valleys and gorges also have wild

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s, salamanders, mushrooms, and other flora and fauna.

Natural history

Biodiversity

Over 1,058 plant species have been identified in the reserve, accounting for nearly 40% of all native plant species in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, though the reserve represents less than 0.1% of the total area of Lebanon. The forests form a unique assemblage of

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

, and evergreen broadleaf trees in an isolated climatic

phytochorion A phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both re ...

with a highly varied topography.

Flora

1,020 species of native plants and 39 species of native trees have been identified. Seventy species use "Lebanon" in their names, such as ''

Cedrus libani ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...

'', '' Salix libanii'', and '' Berberis libanoticum''. Twenty-two other species carry names significant to Lebanon, such as '' Dianthus karami'' (after

Youssef Bey Karam Youssef Bey Karam (also Joseph Bey Karam) (May 15, 1823 – April 7, 1889) ( ar, يوسف بك كرم), was a Lebanese Maronite notable for fighting in the 1860 civil war and led a rebellion in 1866–1867 against the Ottoman Empire rule in M ...

, a 19th-century national figure), and '' Astragalus ehdenensis'' (after the village of

Ehden Ehden ( ar, إِهْدِن, Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܗܕ ܢ ) is a mountainous city in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal in the Mount Lebanon Range. Its residents are the people of Zgharta, as ...

). A total of 212 (20%) species are rare and another 126 (12%) are considered

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

; 115 are endemic to Lebanon, and ten are endemic to Horsh Ehden. Seventy-eight species are recognized as medicinal plants. The reserve is also considered the southernmost limit to Ciliciam fir (''Abies cilicica'').

Plant communities

The forest

plant communities A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant co ...

of highest conservation importance are: * Lebanon cedar (''Cedrus libani'' var. ''libanii''), which represents about 20% of the remaining cedar forests in Lebanon, * Ciliciam fir (''Abies cilicica''), * Greek juniper (''Juniperus excelsa''), which is a gene pool for possible reforestation projects at higher altitude including the peaks of Mount Lebanon above 2000 m, and * Lebanese wild apple (''Malus trilobata''). Horsh Ehden is the only protected area in Lebanon containing the last remaining forest community of the endemic wild apple of Lebanon. Image:Cedar_of_lebanon_788.jpg, Lebanon cedar (''Cedrus libani'' var. ''libanii'') Image:Fir-leb.jpg, Ciliciam fir (''Abies cilicica'') Image:Apple_of_lebanon.jpg, Lebanese wild apple (''Malus trilobata'') Image:greek_juniper.jpg, Greek juniper (''Juniperus excelsa'')

Fauna

Mammals

More than 27 species of mammals (not including bats) have been sighted in the reserve, representing a third of Lebanese mammals.

Insectivores A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores wer ...

carnivores A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

lagomorpha The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families: the Leporidae (hares and rabbits) and the Ochotonidae (pikas). The name of the order is derived from the Ancient Greek ''lagos'' (λαγ� ...

chiroptera Bats are mammals of the Order (biology), order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in fli ...

, and

artiodactyls The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla , ) are ungulates—hoofed animals—which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes: the third and fourth. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing poster ...

have all been identified in the reserve. Thirteen species are globally

, one species is locally threatened and highly endangered (the gray

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

, ''Canis lupus''), and one species is endemic to the reserve (the

lesser white-toothed shrew The lesser white-toothed shrew (''Crocidura suaveolens'') is a tiny shrew with a widespread distribution in Africa, Asia and Europe. Its preferred habitat is scrub and gardens and it feeds on insects, arachnids, worms, gastropods, newts and sm ...

, ''Crocidura suaveolens''). Species identified in the reserve include

Cape hare The Cape hare (''Lepus capensis''), also called the brown hare and the desert hare, is a hare native to Africa and Arabia extending into India. Taxonomy The Cape hare was one of the many mammal species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in ...

(''Lepus capensis''),

wood mouse The wood mouse (''Apodemus sylvaticus'') is a murid rodent native to Europe and northwestern Africa. It is closely related to the yellow-necked mouse (''Apodemus flavicollis'') but differs in that it has no band of yellow fur around the neck, ha ...

(''Apodemus sylvaticus''),

Eurasian badger The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to almost all of Europe. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List as it has a wide range and a large stabl ...

(''Meles meles''),

southern white-breasted hedgehog The southern white-breasted hedgehog (''Erinaceus concolor''), sometimes referred to as white-bellied hedgehog or white-chested hedgehog, is a hedgehog native to Eastern Europe and Southwestern Asia. Description It is very similar in lifestyle an ...

(''Erinaceus concolor''),

Indian porcupine The Indian crested porcupine (''Hystrix indica'') is a hystricomorph rodent species native to southern Asia and the Middle East. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the Old World porcupine family, Hystricidae. Des ...

(''Histrix indica''),

Caucasian squirrel The Caucasian squirrel (''Sciurus anomalus'') or Persian squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' found in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in south-western Asia. The species is usually said to have first been described in 1778 ...

(''Sciurus anomalus''), striped hyena (''Hyaena hyanena''),

least weasel The least weasel (''Mustela nivalis''), little weasel, common weasel, or simply weasel is the smallest member of the genus '' Mustela,'' family Mustelidae and order Carnivora. It is native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, and has bee ...

(''Mustela nivalis''),

wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

(''Felis silvestris''),

gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly ...

(''Canis lupus''), and

marbled polecat The marbled polecat (''Vormela peregusna'') is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus ''Vormela'' within the mustelid subfamily Ictonychinae. ''Vormela'' is from the German word , which means "little worm". The specific name ''peregusn ...

(''Vormela Peregusna''). The reserve may have also been home to extinct species in Lebanon such as

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

(''Capreolus capreolus''),

Persian fallow deer The Persian fallow deer (''Dama mesopotamica'') is a deer species once native to all of the Middle East, but currently only living in Iran and Israel. It was reintroduced in Israel. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008 ...

(''Dama dama mesopotamica''),

Anatolian leopard ''Panthera pardus tulliana'' is a leopard subspecies native to the Iranian Plateau and surrounding areas encompassing Turkey, the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and possibly Pakistan. Since 2016, i ...

(''Panthera pardus tulliana''), Syrian brown bear (''Ursus arctos syriacus''), and

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocen ...

(''Bos primigenius''). Image:Caucasian_squrriel.gif, Caucasian squirrel Image:Stripedhyena3.jpg, Striped hyena Image:Capreolus capreolus 2 Jojo.jpg, Roe deer (male and female) Image:Euro_badger.jpg, Eurasian badger

Birds

The reserve has many different bird habitats. Four of the identified bird species are globally threatened, five are regionally vulnerable, eighteen face unfavorable conditions in Europe, and fifty-seven are rare in Lebanon. Species include

eastern imperial eagle The eastern imperial eagle (''Aquila heliaca'') is a large bird of prey that breeds in southeastern Europe and extensively through West and Central Asia. Most populations are migratory and winter in northeastern Africa, the Middle East and South ...

(''Aquila heliaca''),

Bonelli's eagle The Bonelli's eagle (''Aquila fasciata'') is a large bird of prey. The common name of the bird commemorates the Italian ornithologist and collector Franco Andrea Bonelli. Bonelli is credited with gathering the type specimen, most likely from an ...

(''Hieraaetus fasciatus''),

blue tit The Eurasian blue tit (''Cyanistes caeruleus'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognisable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size. Eurasian blue tits, usually resident and non-migratory birds, are ...

(''Parus caeruleus''),

corn crake The corn crake, corncrake or landrail (''Crex crex'') is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and migrates to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with buff- ...

(''Crex crex''),

Levant sparrowhawk The Levant sparrowhawk (''Accipiter brevipes'') is a small bird of prey. It measures in length with a wingspan of . The female is larger than the male, but the difference is not as marked as with Eurasian sparrowhawk. The adult male is blue-grey ...

(''Accipiter brevipes''),

saker falcon The saker falcon (''Falco cherrug'') is a large species of falcon. This species breeds from central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is mainly migratory except in the southernmost parts of its range, wintering in Ethiopia ...

(''Falco cherrug''), white pelican (''Pelecanus onocratalus''),

black stork The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, t ...

(''Ciconia nigra''),

Egyptian vulture The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture and the only member of the genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula and ...

(''Neophron perenopetrus''),

European bee-eater The European bee-eater (''Merops apiaster'') is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family, Meropidae. It breeds in southern and central Europe, northern and southern Africa, and western Asia. Except for the resident southern African populatio ...

(''Merops apiaster''),

sand martin The sand martin (''Riparia riparia''), also known as the bank swallow (in the Americas), collared sand martin, or common sand martin, is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the w ...

(''Riparia riparia''),

white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to en ...

(''Ciconia ciconia''),

common wood-pigeon The common wood pigeon or common woodpigeon (''Columba palumbus''), also known as simply wood pigeon, wood-pigeon or woodpigeon, is a large species in the dove and pigeon family (Columbidae), native to the western Palearctic. It belongs to the ...

(''Columba polumbus''),

great spotted cuckoo The great spotted cuckoo (''Clamator glandarius'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. It is widely spread throughout Africa and the Mediterranean Basin. It i ...

(''Clamator glandarius''),

barn owl The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalaya ...

(''Tyto alba''), and the

Syrian woodpecker The Syrian woodpecker (''Dendrocopos syriacus'') is a member of the woodpecker family, the Picidae. Taxonomy The Syrian woodpecker was first described as ''Picus syriacus'' by Wilhelm Hemprich and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in 1833, from ...

(''Dendrocopos syriacus''). Image:Song_thrush.gif, Song thrush Image:Egyptian vulture.jpg, Egyptian vulture Image:Blue Tit aka.jpg, Eurasian blue tit Image:Woodpigeoncloseup.jpg, Common wood-pigeon

Amphibians and reptiles

There are four species of amphibians and nineteen species of reptiles. One species ( Mediterranean chameleon, ''Chamaeleo chamaeleon'') is globally threatened, one subspecies is unique, and nineteen species are threatened in Lebanon. Species include Lebanon viper (''Montivipera bornmuelleri''), Palestinian viper (''Vipera palaestinae''),

green whip snake The green whip snake or western whip snake (''Hierophis viridiflavus'') is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. Geographic range This species is present in Andorra, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, a ...

(''Hierophis viridiflavus''), bridled mabuya (''Trachylepis vittata''),

Schreiber's fringe-fingered lizard Schreiber's fringe-fingered lizard (''Acanthodactylus schreiberi'') is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the Middle East. Etymology Both the specific name, ''schreiberi'', and the common name, Schreiber's f ...

(''Acanthodactylus schreiberi''),

desert black snake ''Walterinnesia'' is a genus of venomous snakes in the Family (biology), family Elapidae. The genus contains two species, known commonly as desert black snakes or black desert cobras, which are Endemism, endemic to the Middle East."''Walterinne ...

(''Walterinnesia aegyptia''),

common toad The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a frog found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, and some Mediterranean islands), in ...

(''Bufo bufo''). Image:Hierophis viridiflavus.jpg, Green whip snake Image:Mabuya vittata 002.jpg, Bridled mabuya Image:Black_cobra.gif, Desert black snake Image:Common_toad_tcm4-111436.jpg, Common toad

Cultural heritage and Activities onsider deleting this section as promotional/h1>
When to visit: Autumn and spring are the most temperate seasons for hiking. October is the best month for autumnal colors, and April to May are the best months to see the reserve in bloom. Recreational activities: Bird watching, hiking, mountain biking and photography are possible throughout the year. The reserve has a camp offering outdoor educational activities for children during the week and for adults on the weekend. Activities depend on the season and vary from year-to-year. * Archaeological sites: There are no
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
s inside the reserve. However, the village of
Ehden Ehden ( ar, إِهْدِن, Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܗܕ ܢ ) is a mountainous city in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal in the Mount Lebanon Range. Its residents are the people of Zgharta, as ...
has historical churches and monasteries, as well as the old souk (market place) in the historic area. The Church of St. Mamas (Mar Memas) is the first
Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the larges ...
church constructed with stones in
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
. * Other nearby activities: Nearby villages include Ehden. The Cathedral of the Lady of the Citadel (Saydet Al-Hosn), a modern church in the shape of a star and located on a summit, offers a panoramic view of north Lebanon. Al-Midan, Ehden's historic souk characterized by traditional Lebanese architecture has cafés, patisseries and restaurants.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Horsh Ehden official website

Location on Wikimapia

Ehden Family Tree
Nature reserves in Lebanon Forests of Lebanon Tourist attractions in Lebanon Zgharta District Tourism in Lebanon