The Smallville Hotel - Beirut, February 16, 2026

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The Arab Reform Initiative (ARI), in partnership with Public Works Studio, is launching a new research paper examining the environmental, agricultural, and spatial destruction inflicted on southern Lebanon as a result of the Israeli war since October 2023. The paper documents the large-scale devastation of infrastructure, agricultural land, forests, irrigation networks, and heritage sites, and analyzes the profound impacts on livelihoods, local economies, and environmental systems, within a broader context of forced displacement and attempts to render border areas uninhabitable.

The paper is grounded in a year-long participatory and field-based research process led by Public Works Studio, including monitoring, research, workshops, and interviews. This work aimed to assess the scale and nature of environmental and agricultural damage, identify priorities for recovery and return, review existing reconstruction frameworks, and clarify the responsibilities of the Lebanese state and local authorities in responding to environmental destruction.

Special focus is given to the border town of Kfarkela as a case study representing the most affected villages. Through workshops and collective discussions with affected residents, farmers, activists, civil society actors, researchers, and decision-makers, the research process contributed to developing shared priorities and policy demands. Supported by PORTICUS, this participatory process directly informed the drafting of the paper, prepared jointly by Public Works Studio and ARI.

The paper documents environmental and agricultural damage across southern Lebanon, draws lessons from post-2006 war interventions, assesses current recovery and reconstruction policies, and concludes with a set of key, evolving policy recommendations aimed at confronting ecocide and advancing sustainable recovery and return.

This work forms part of ARI’s broader regional research initiative DiRAIA, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), which seeks to address knowledge gaps around environmental movements in the Middle East and North Africa, with a focus on their intersections with social justice, governance, and gender, using action-oriented and peer-learning methodologies.

Objectives of the Event

The event aims to provide a collective dialogue space bringing together affected community members, activists, researchers, civil society organizations, and decision-makers to discuss environmental destruction in southern Lebanon and its long-term impacts on people, ecosystems, and livelihoods.

Specifically, the session seeks to:

• Present the findings of the research paper, documenting the scale and nature of environmental, agricultural, and spatial damage in southern Lebanon, with a particular focus on border villages.

• Foster critical discussion on existing recovery and reconstruction policies, and assess the extent to which they address environmental, agricultural, and social dimensions of harm.

• Clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Lebanese state and local authorities, alongside those of local communities and civil society actors, in responding to ecocide and advancing sustainable recovery and return.

• Create a shared space to discuss and refine policy and advocacy recommendations, with the aim of building common demands that can inform collective action.

• Bridge research and practice by linking academic analysis, field-based knowledge, and grassroots experiences, and by transforming research outcomes into practical tools for advocacy and policy influence.

The event is conceived as a starting point for a broader participatory process, strengthening coordination among actors working on environmental justice, reconstruction, and return in southern Lebanon.

Event Agenda 

Date: Monday, 16 February 2026
Time: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM