Northern Bekaa: bird-net removals reach 38,280 m²

The Bekaa Investigation Detachment of the Regional Gendarmerie Unit, under the Bekaa Area Command, carried out an exceptional field operation in cooperation on the ground and through information sharing with the joint Lebanese–international operations team of the Anti-Poaching Unit APU (MECSHAP–CABS). The operation resulted in the removal of 38,280 square metres of bird-killing nets used for illegal hunting and the indiscriminate killing of birds.

The missions, conducted over several days, covered Younine, Labweh, Arsal, Ras Baalbek, Mashari‘ al-Qaa, al-Kuwaitiya, Jabouleh, Jadidat al-Fakiha and the highlands of Nahleh. Numerous violation sites were identified and reached, and the seized nets were removed. After each mission, the seized material was handed over to the relevant units in accordance with established procedures.

The operation was marked by a high level of professionalism, precise field coordination and rapid detection and intervention. The Bekaa Investigation Detachment also used a drone to survey the areas, spot nets from the air and locate them quickly and clearly, helping teams reach violation sites faster and carry out field interventions more efficiently.

The mission was coordinated administratively and in media matters with the Bekaa Area Command, the Public Relations Division and the Gendarmerie Command operations room of the Internal Security Forces. Members of the Ras Baalbek police station also took part on the ground in removing some of the seized nets, as part of cooperation and coordination between the units concerned.

A number of sustainable hunters in the Bekaa also contributed the field information needed to identify violation sites and locate the nets.

This was not the first such cooperation. A similar operation last year resulted in the removal of approximately 8,000 square metres of nets. It was considered at the time the largest net-removal operation in Lebanon and the largest in the roughly fifty-year history of the international organisation CABS.

The current operation, which resulted in the removal of 38,280 square metres of nets over three days, sets an exceptional new field record and underscores the importance of cooperation between security forces, specialist teams and sustainable hunters in confronting illegal hunting and protecting birds and wildlife in Lebanon.