Clearance efforts face numerous challenges, including limited resources, access restrictions in certain areas, the presence of other explosive remnants of war, and the sheer scale of contamination.

Additionally, ongoing conflicts and instability in neighboring countries have hindered progress in mine clearance and risk education initiatives.

The Lebanese Army aspired to change the face of Lebanon by removing the old mines from the previous conflicts.

Despite the many challenges Lebanon has been facing over the last years, the national army wanted to plant seeds of hope.

How could the Lebanese Army give the people of Lebanon a reason to contribute to removing the old mines trapped in the land of Cedars?

Objectives:

• Remove as many mines as possible to secure the land

• Create talkability and a news factor for the initiative

• Encourage people to contribute to the cause

If we wanted to motivate people to take part to this initiative supported by the National Lebanese Army, we need to find a simple way to integrate the civil population into a single-minded action to accelerate the impact.

If we took off mines from the land, we wanted to give back to Earth a symbolic gesture to bring back the life and express gratitude to a land that suffered a lot. It was almost like a healing process for the people of Lebanon to close an old chapter associated with suffering and pain and replace it with a meaning of hope.

Removing the mines and planting cedars was the most obvious, calling the campaign: “Turning Land Mine to Land Pine”.

The Lebanese people might disagree on many aspects. We always refer to Lebanon as the most divided country - from political parties to religious communities – but there’s one thing that unites Lebanese people: their love for the Cedars, being the ultimate national rally.

As a symbol of longevity and peace, it made a lot of sense to tap into this beautiful gesture of giving back to the land with removing a mine and offering the people the chance to contribute in return.

Considering the sustainability challenges we are currently facing, the Lebanese Army also wanted to address a local need for more greenery and thinking of the future generations heritage: a greener country filled with a symbolic tree that represents the nation.

The Lebanese Army connected with local news and influencers to amplify the message and make sure the civil society would be informed and how to participate.

The campaign started with an awareness phase to communicate the initiative and ask the people to contribute based on a symbolic gesture for their land.

They were invited to check out the landing page and they were ultimately informed about further details on the initiative and act with donating a Cedar tree.

Donate a tree for Lebanon enabled to help the army responsible for removing mines to protect the land who were equipped with sophisticated materials and safe tools.

The mechanic used a simple website channel to enable people to participate and give their lands life again.

The Lebanese Army enabled to open a new chapter to pay tribute to the land of Cedars to give life to dead lands.

The campaign was a successful tribute to accelerate the removal process of mines to approximately 300.000 extra mines. The invitation was to plant a cedar as a symbolic gesture to honor the life and hope for the future of a greener Lebanon.

The news obviously picked up the initiative with MTV and OTV which talked about the campaign and showcasing the local population contributing to the army’s efforts by accessing a landing page with a donation process. Few radios also mentioned the initiative like Sawt Lebanon and Sawt El Mada to spread the word.

Also, few influencers amplified the message:

- Captain Rola Hoteit - Lebanese female airline captain

- Mia Saiid - Public figure, Tv host/actress

- Tony Abou Jaoude - Actor, standup comedian and illustrator