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Jebel Akhdar (Libya)

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File:Green mountain of Libya.jpg
Aljabal Alakhdar (Libya)
File:Jabal Al Akdhar.jpg
The Jebel Akhdar is Libya's wettest region. Annual rainfall averages between 400 and 600 millimeters.

The Jebel Akhdar (Template:Langx Template:Transliteration {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, Template:Langx, Template:Langx) is a heavily forested, fertile upland area in northeastern Libya. It is located in the modern shabiyahs or districts of Derna, Jabal al Akhdar, and Marj.

GeographyEdit

The Jebel Akhdar consists of a mountainous plateau rising to an altitude of Template:Convert, cut by several valleys and wadis. It forms the north-western part of the peninsula that sticks north into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Gulf of Sidra on the west, and the Levantine Basin on the east. It runs from Bengazi eastward to just east of Derna, fronting the coast for about Template:Convert. Due to erosion and deposition, the plateau is sometimes as much as Template:Convert from the shore, but it forms cliffs on the headlands.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Röhlich">Template:Cite journal</ref> The final uplift and arching of the plateau was completed in the Miocene.<ref name="Röhlich" />

The region is one of the very few forested areas of Libya, which taken as a whole is one of the least forested countries on Earth. The Jebel Akhdar is the wettest part of Libya, receiving some Template:Convert of precipitation annually.<ref name = Britannica>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The high rainfall contributes to the area's large forests containing Chammari, and enables rich fruit, potato, and cereal agriculture, something of a rarity in an arid country like Libya.<ref name = HJ /> Camels, goats and sheep are herded in and around the Jebel Akhdar and the herders tend to be nomadic.<ref name = Britannica /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

FloraEdit

File:Al Bakour4.JPG
Sparsely-forested area in the Al-Bakour escarpment of the Akhdar mountains

In marked contrast to the aridity prevailing in most of Libya, there are forested areas in this region totalling around 3200 km2, although approximately a third of the original forest has already been destroyed to make way for agriculture. In addition to the forests there are also large areas of maquis and steppe-like vegetation. Typical maquis species are the Phoenician juniper (Juniperus phoenicea), the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus), the Kermes oak (Quercus coccifera) and the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua). In the drier steppe-like areas, branched asphodel (Asphodelus ramosus), prickly burnet (Sarcopoterium spinosum) and white wormwood (Artemisia herba-alba) predominate.<ref>El-Darier, S.M., El-Mogaspi, F.M. "Ethnobotany and Relative Importance of Some Endemic Plant Species at El-Jabal El-Akhdar Region (Libya)" World Journal of Agricultural Sciences Band 5, Nr. 3, 2009</ref> More than half of the endemic plant species in Libya are to be found in the Jebel Akhdar and, of these, seven are found only in the region: Arbutus pavarii, Arum cyrenaicum, Bellis sylvestris var. cyrenaica, Cyclamen rohlfsianum, Cynara cyrenaica, Onopordum cyrenaicum and Romulea cyrenaica.<ref name= "Vegetation gradient">Al-Sodany, Yassin, Shehata, M.N. and Shaltout, Kamal Hussein "Vegetation along an elevation gradient in Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, Libya" January 2003 Ecologia Mediterranea 29(2):125-138 {{#invoke:doi|main}}</ref>

HistoryEdit

AncientEdit

File:Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar.jpg

Documents created during the New Kingdom of Egypt record that to the west there were large populations of metal workers who lived in towns and had plentiful livestock. The only plausible location for these "Libyans" is the Jebel Akhdar.<ref name = Oxford>Template:Cite book</ref>

The ancient Greek colony of Cyrene was located in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar, with the ruins remaining.<ref name = Livius>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was the Greeks who introduced farming to the Jebal Akhdar when they colonised its verdant valleys in around 600 BC.<ref name = HJ>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Italian occupationEdit

During the Italian occupation these mountains were identified as a promising area for agriculture and many Italians moved here in the 1930s. This settlement was interrupted during World War II and the villages and farms were deserted and were later reoccupied by Libyans. The mountain chain was the site of major battles between the British Commonwealth and the Axis forces during World War II.<ref name = Britannica/>

LiberationEdit

The Libyan leader Omar al-Mukhtar used this heavily forested mountainous region to resist the Italian colonization of Libya for more than twenty years.<ref name = symbol>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Notable peopleEdit

GalleriesEdit

LandscapesEdit

  • The outskirts of the city of Bayda - Libya..jpg

    Area near the centre of Jebel Akhdar (outskirts of the city of Bayda)

  • Derna 5.jpg

    Eastern end of Jebel Akhdar (near Derna)

  • Al Marj escarpment4.JPG

    Marj escarpment area

  • Al Bakour bridge1.JPG

    Al Bakour escarpment area

  • Al Bakour 1.jpg

    Al Bakour at the western end of Jebel Akhdar, near Taucheira

  • Jebel Akhdar deforestation.jpg

    An example of the severe soil erosion which can result from deforestation in the Jebel Akhdar (near Wadi el Kuf Bridge)

FloraEdit

FaunaEdit

  • Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) - cropped.jpg

    Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena)

  • Fox - British Wildlife Centre (17429406401).jpg

    Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)

  • A female common genet in the dining room, Satao Camp.jpg

    Common genet (Genetta genetta)

  • Herpestes ichneumon Египетский мангуст, или фараонова крыса, или ихневмо́н.jpg

    Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon)

  • Atelerix algirus.jpg

    North African hedgehog (Atelerix algirus)

  • Petrosaltator rozeti-Zootaxa.jpg

    North African elephant shrew (Petrosaltator rozeti)

See alsoEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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