H o m e

From The Daily Star 14/7/1998 Promoting a green and pleasant land Green Lebanon? The cynic might say forget it. Don't bother with more than a dirty yellow palette, if you want to set your easel on a mountainside. All you will see is a mustard haze of lead-laden smog hovering above Beirut. In fact our capital is not far behind Athens and Ankara in the environmental nightmare charts, our countryside is far from litter-free and our sea water is severely contaminated. In fact, pollution has never been so bad. But there may be a light at the end of the environmental tunnel. Since June 1996 Najib Saab has been working to change all that. He is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Environment & Development, the first and only environmental magazine in Arabic. It's a bi-monthly publication that was launched in Beirut, but has since been sold all over the Arab world. Last month, the magazine's circulation reached 28,000. Environment & Development has the potential to change the public's perception of environment. Saab seems to have a winning formula: the cunning of a businessman, the background of a writer, and the dedication of an eco-activist. Saab studied architecture and mass-communication at the American University of Beirut. He also managed to publish the university magazine Point of View and write for the leading daily An­Nahar. After graduating in 1977 he took a position at the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), working as the regional information officer for Asia until 1979. He has been a consultant ever since. "As an architect, I apply environmentally friendly methods, even when doing corporate design for multinational companies, who found my environmental approach an asset for their image. "As an environmental publisher, I try to bring organization and real business practices to a domain which largely remains in the hands of amateur activists. As the first regional information officer for UNEP in the Arab region, I had to create a lot of environmental terms not used before in Arabic," Saab explained. Saab called upon his background when assembling Environment & Development's research and journalistic team. In 1979, he launched Technical Publications, which produced a series of books, pamphlets, reports, and press kits related to the environment and development. Most of these high-quality publications were made for UN agencies and other international or regional organizations. He used the Technical Publications team to produce Environment & Development. Saab also asked Mustafa Kamal Tolba and Abdelmuhsin al-Sudeary, two former Arab heads of United Nations agencies, to be on the advisory board. There was always a danger that the product would be too dry, but when Environment & Development finally hit the newsstands, Saab made sure it made a splash. The promotional campaigns, which ran from Beirut to Riyadh to Abu Dhabi, included newspaper ads, television clips, trade shows, and interviews with the media. The magazine capitalized on exclusive interviews with heads of state such as Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates to enhance its profile. In 1997 Environment & Development supported a school competition, called "A Better Environment Starts With You", to generate ideas for environmental awareness. It received 120,000 entries. Since then, it has continued down this avenue, carrying other competitions, supporting environmental clubs, publishing a regular supplement entitled The Young Environmentalist, and a quarterly wall chart called The Green Bulletin. Saab says his main priority is to produce first-class journalism. In order to remain objective, he has turned down public funds which are sometimes set aside to promote the environment. But as he easily admits, the money has to come from somewhere. Saab has secured several prestigious advertisers. Some corporate names have even targeted their ads towards his readers. Saudi Arabian Airlines started a campaign about its environmentally friendly airplanes, and Grohe promoted a water-saving tap. "We're still investing, and there's a long way to go before we break even," he said. "But we shan't compromise on quality and convictions and we strongly believe that advertisers will follow readers." So far, Environment & Development has been true to its principles. It was the first Arabic magazine to be printed on recycled paper. But as Saab, or the businessman in him, is quick to add: "This was not at the expense of quality. We chose recycled paper suitable for modern colour printing." "The days when environmentalists wore sandals and torn jeans are over. We live in a world where glossy publications fight to attract readers and advertisers. We have to present environmental issues in an attractive format without compromising our principles," said Saab. So is Environment & Development going to bring some colour to Lebanon's landscape? It will take more than pictures or words. But now it has caught people's imagination, let's hope that it can hold their attention. We just might have a green Lebanon yet.