From Arsal to Qaa… An Unprecedented Campaign Against Hunting Nets

The Baalbek Investigation Detachment of the Regional Gendarmerie Unit, in cooperation with the joint Lebanese–international Anti-Poaching Unit (APU / MECSHAP–CABS), removed 38,280 square metres of illegal hunting nets in the northern Beqaa valley during a three-day field operation covering Younine, Labweh, Arsal, Ras Baalbek, Masharih al-Qaa, Kuwaitiyeh, Jboula, Jadidat al-Fakiha and the Jurd of Nahleh. A drone was used to survey the area from the air and locate the nets, while sustainable hunters provided field information. The seized nets were handed over to the relevant sectors after each mission. The quantity is roughly five times the amount removed in a similar operation last year (about 8,000 square metres).