Evaluation of Land Suitability for Stone Pine (Pinus pinea) plantation in Lebanon

Stone pine (Pinus pinea) is a typical Mediterranean tree well adapted to drought and high temperatures. It is a species of great interest and economical importance in Lebanon and has a strong beneficial impact on the local communities from the marketing of its edible nuts. This tree is threatened by human activities and fire that are leading to its degradation. Therefore, the aim of this study is to delineate and map the suitability of soils for the plantation and extension of the stone pine. For this purpose, the adopted research methods were composed of the following three steps: (1) identifying through available data and traditional methods the ability of the lands to be planted with stone pine (2) identifying the various factors influencing the growth and fruiting of the treeand (3) transforming and integrating all the data into geo-referenced thematic maps and introducing them into the Geographic Information System (GIS) suitable for delimiting Lebanese areas suitable for planting stone pines. The obtained results were presented in a form of 10 thematic maps (GIS layers) that represent the influence of each ecological factor on the land suitability for afforestation by stone pine. A final thematic map that illustrates the most suitable areas for Pinus pinea plantations was generated by superimposing the 10 GIS layers.