Suzanne Abou Said Daou

Nature remains our sanctuary and peaceful haven and an expanse of hope that we may take refuge to and draw colors beyond the memory of dirt, this captivating beauty and magic that lures us to sink deep in the amazing world of flowers, plants with diverse colors and the joy of carefree butterflies and singing birds and the sounds of animals, while the environment in Lebanon remains the most neglected by successive governments, it is more evident in North of Lebanon and specifically in Akkar.

 With all those in mind, and far from Coronavirus and the concerns and worries of the moment, the Akkar Trails Environmental Group درب عكار managed to achieve a new discovery during its documentary journeys of all wild plants in Akkar Governorate, which gives us an idea about the importance of Lebanon’s richness and vital biodiversity.

The group reported yesterday, Monday, the discovery of a new and rare type of Anatolian Orchid, which is distinguished by its white color, knowing that the normal color tends to be dark pink, the group stated that the scientific name of this new discovery is: Orchis anatolica albiflora, this new discovery adds to the number of documented species in Akkar to about 50 varieties of orchids.

It is worth noting that Lebanon is characterized by the diversity of orchids in its environment, and those were documented in the book of the late environmental expert Ricardo Al-Habr and his wife in the nineties of the last century, noting that the Akkar trails group was able, to document more than 300 new types of various plants and flowers in the Akkar region, these may be found in other regions of Lebanon, waiting to be discovered, Al-Habr congratulated the group for their previous findings, this all indicates Lebanon's richness of unique biological diversity in wild flora, all waiting to be discovered!