The Association for the Protection of Jabal Moussa looks after Lebanon's UNESCO biosphere reserve in Keserwan, and its rural products line is one way it shares income with the surrounding villages. Local women prepare the food in a central kitchen first set up at the Immaculate Conception school in Ghbaleh, with help from the school's sisters. Sales began in 2012, the first batches sold out and were reordered three times within a year, and by 2016 a larger kitchen and new product lines were added. The range includes crystallized thistle honey from flowers at the reserve's highest altitudes, zaatar, zaatar water and zaatar essential oil, plus handicrafts like the Tabsoun hyrax doll. Products are sold online through the Eco-Shop and at about two dozen points of sale. Proceeds support conservation and local families.
Jabal Moussa at a glance
- Products made by local women around a UNESCO biosphere reserve
- Central kitchen began at a school in Ghbaleh
- Products went on sale in 2012
- Sold at 23 points of sale plus an online Eco-Shop