Readers of this blog will be quite familiar with the campaign to save Beirut’s last undeveloped natural rocky shore from real estate development. The site, known as Dalieh of Raouche, offers a wealth of natural pools, caves, marine and plant life as well as archeological and Ras Beirut heritage, with local families frequenting its grassy hills and limestone coves for generations.
Now you can help preserve this place by contributing to a crowdfunding campaign, but there are only 4 days left to do so.
The Civil Campaign to Protect Dalieh of Raouche has mounted an extensive effort to keep the shores free and open, including an international design competition to envision public use of the space that is being sponsored by the Ministry of Environment. The campaign has succeeded at lobbying the minister to issue a draft decree to help protect the site, despite the fact that the land has been bought by very powerful investors within his own political coalition. (The decree will soon be up for a cabinet vote so the competition may be an important lobbying tool.)
All this has been made possible by tireless volunteer efforts and out-of-pocket expense by a small group of activists and urban professionals. Now they need your help to make the competition a success, supporting the participation of a prestigious international jury of architects and the display of the winning projects at the upcoming Beirut Design week. You can contribute to the crowd-fudnding campaign here. You can also read in detail about the budget and needs. The deadline to fund is just 4 days 3 days 1 day from now.
Through the help of volunteer lawyers, the campaign is also suing the state based on the manipulation of property laws by politicians that have allowed private interests to acquire the city’s last shore. You can read more about this and the campaign’s many other efforts in a recent in-depth piece in The Guardian.
Do contribute a little money if you believe in preserving a slice of Beirut’s natural waterfront for the next generation and share the crowdfunding page with your friends and colleagues.
