It seems our Cedars have another tree that’s giving them a run for their money. According to this article (link) that a friend sent me, Lebanon houses the world’s oldest living olive trees in the village of Bechaaleh in the Batroun caza.
The trees, which are over 6000 years old, have withstood a whole lot in their history including severe exploitation, climate changes and governments which, quite simply, don’t give a rat’s ass about such a thing. At 1300 meters of altitude, their location is also unique as it is rare for olive trees to grow at altitudes above 1000m.
I’ve always known the town of Bechaaleh, a 15 min drive from my hometown Ebrine, housed old olive trees but I didn’t know they were the world’s oldest. I guess I must visit soon – if the roads permit (Batroun’s roads are horrible [pictures]).
Let’s hope we don’t end up having an environment minister like our current minister of culture Gaby Layoun who doesn’t care the least about preserving the environment and ends up hacking these trees away. You know it’s entirely possible in such a country.
Until then, I figured this is interesting enough to break the whole Ali Abdallah – Snowstorm mania.