| Zusammenfassung: | As a result of several millennia of clearing, pastoral disturbance, and exploitation for building material, the forest cover of Lebanon has been almost entirely destroyed. Only scattered remnants of the once extensive stands of cedar, fir, and juniper survive, and most of the oak forests have been degraded to scrub. It is possible, nevertheless, to reconstruct the main features of Lebanon's original arborescent vegetation and to identify the most important agents of deforestation. The magnitude of the ancient lumber trade between Phoenicia and the wood-deficient areas of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine is difficult to assess in quantitative terms, but there is abundant evidence of commercial transactions centered on Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre, and of logging expeditions undertaken by Egyptian and Assyrian armies. During the period of Roman rule Emperor Hadrian, probably in an attempt to preserve timber for his fleets, claimed personal ownership of the surviving forests on Mount Lebanon. In later centuries the agricultural and pastoral activities associated with highland settlements led to the destruction of all but a few protected or inaccessible patches of the ancient woodland.
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