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The Jebel Akhdar ( ar, الجبل الأخضر , en, The Green Mountain) is a heavily forested, fertile upland area in northeastern
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
Documents created during the
Image:The outskirts of the city of Bayda - Libya..jpg, Area near the centre of Jebel Akhdar, (The outskirts of the city of Bayda).
Image:Derna 5.jpg, Eastern end of Jebel Akhdar, (near Derna).
Image:Al Marj escarpment4.JPG, Marj escarpment area.
Image:Al Bakour bridge1.JPG, Al Bakour escarpment area.
Image:Al Bakour 1.jpg, Al Bakour at the western end of Jebel Akhdar, near Taucheira).
Image:Jebel Akhdar deforestation.jpg, An example of the severe soil erosion which can result from
File:Quercus coccifera - Kermes oak, Adana 2016-11-27 01-1.jpg, '' Quercus coccifera'' (
File:Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) - cropped.jpg, Striped hyena (''Hyaena hyaena'')
File:Fox - British Wildlife Centre (17429406401).jpg, Red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'')
File:A female common genet in the dining room, Satao Camp.jpg, Common genet (''Genetta genetta'')
File:Herpestes ichneumon Египетский мангуст, или фараонова крыса, или ихневмо́н.jpg,
The Jebel Akhdar ( ar, الجبل الأخضر , en, The Green Mountain) is a heavily forested, fertile upland area in northeastern Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...
. It is located in the modern ''shabiyahs'' or districts of Derna, Jabal al Akhdar, and Marj.
Geography
The Jebel Akhdar consists of a mountainousplateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...
rising to an altitude of , cut by several valleys and wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet ( ephemeral) riverbed that contains water on ...
s. It forms the north-western part of the peninsula that sticks north into the Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
, with the Gulf of Sidra
The Gulf of Sidra ( ar, خليج السدرة, Khalij as-Sidra, also known as the Gulf of Sirte ( ar, خليج سرت, Khalij Surt, is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya, named after the oil port of Sidra, Li ...
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 . Due to erosion and deposition the plateau is sometimes as much as from the shore, but it forms cliffs on the headlands. The final uplift and arching of the plateau was completed in the Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...
.
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. It is the wettest part of Libya, receiving some of precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hai ...
annually. 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. Camels, goats and sheep are herded in and around the Jebel Akhdar and the herders tend to be nomadic.
Flora
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
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslan ...
-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.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
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
''Bellis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.
The group is native to Europe, the Mediterranean and northern Africa. One species has been introduced into North America and others into other parts of the world. The genus ...
'', '' Cyclamen rohlfsianum'', '' Cynara cyrenaica'', '' Onopordum cyrenaicum'' and '' Romulea cyrenaica''. 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
History
Ancient
Documents created during the New Kingdom
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
of Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
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.
The ancient Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
colony of Cyrene was located in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar, with the ruins remaining. It was the Greeks who introduced farming to the Jebal Akhdar when they colonised its verdant valleys in around 600 BC.
Italian occupation
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.Liberation
The Libyan leader Omar al-Mukhtar used this heavily forested mountainous region to resist the Italian colonization of Libya for more than twenty years.Galleries
Landscapes
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then land conversion, converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban area, urban ...
in the Jebel Akhdar (near Wadi el Kuf Bridge).Flora
Fagaceae
The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as eve ...
)
File:Viburnum tinus. Fiyáu (flores).jpg, '' Viburnum tinus'' ( Adoxaceae)
File:Myrtus communis12.jpg, '' Myrtus communis'' (Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All spe ...
)
File:Ceratonia siliqua Keciboynuzu 1370984 Nevit.jpg, ''Ceratonia siliqua
The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and landsca ...
'' ( Fabaceae)
File:Retama raetam Jardin botanico Barcelona.jpg, '' Retama raetam'' (Fabaceae)
File:Pistacia lentiscus.jpg, ''Pistacia lentiscus
''Pistacia lentiscus'' (also lentisk or mastic) is a dioecious evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus '' Pistacia'' native to the Mediterranean Basin. It grows up to tall and is cultivated for its aromatic resin, mainly on the Greek isl ...
'' (Anacardiaceae
The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce ...
)
File:Lycium shawii.jpg, ''Lycium shawii
''Lycium shawii'', desert thorn or Arabian boxthorn is a species of thorny shrub adapted to desert environments, and can be found throughout the Arabian peninsula, and some places in Africa. The thin leaved, rigid bush grows up to high, with a l ...
'' (Solanaceae
The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and o ...
)
File:Rhamnus lycioides fruits.JPG, '' Rhamnus lycioides'' ( Rhamnaceae)
File:Juniperus phoenicea berries.jpg, '' Juniperus phoenicea'' (Cupressaceae
Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdio ...
)
File:Artemisa herba alba floratrek2013.jpg, '' Artemisia herba-alba'' (Asteraceae
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae ...
)
File:Cichorium spinosum Pembroke Range Malta 05 06 2010 05.jpg, ''Cichorium spinosum
''Cichorium spinosum'', the spiny chicory, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region. A biennial or perennial reaching , is both collected in the wild and cultivated as a leafy green vegetable. ...
'' (Asteraceae)
File:Limoniastrum monopetalum 2.JPG, '' Limoniastrum monopetalum'' ( Plumbaginaceae)
File:Sarcopoterium spinosum fruit RJP 02.jpg, '' Sarcopoterium spinosum'' (Rosaceae
Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera.
The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are '' Alchemilla'' (270), '' Sorbu ...
)
File:Crucianella maritima 1.JPG, ''Crucianella maritima
''Crucianella'' (common name crossworts) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The species are annual herbs found from the Mediterranean to Central Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. One species ('' C. angustifolia'') is naturali ...
'' (Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules ...
)
File:Suaeda mollis kz1.JPG, ''Suaeda vermiculata
''Suaeda vermiculata'' is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae (formerly classified under the Chenopodiaceae). It is a salt-tolerant plant (halophyte) that grows naturally in salt-affected areas.
Description
It is a shrub and can grow ...
'' (Amaranthaceae
Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus '' Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making i ...
)
File:Marrubium vulgare flowerhead12 QNR (15715443619).jpg, '' Marrubium vulgare'' (Lamiaceae
The Lamiaceae ( )
or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savo ...
)
File:Cyclamen rohlfsianum02.jpg, '' Cyclamen rohlfsianum'' ( Myrsinaceae). Endemic species
File:Asphodelus ramosus in Haifa.jpg, '' Asphodelus ramosus'' (Asphodelaceae
Asphodelaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asparagales. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists, but the circumscription has varied widely. In its current circumscription in the APG IV system, it includes abo ...
'')
File:Pacratium maritimum Paestum.jpg, '' Pancratium maritimum'' (Amaryllidaceae
The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous (rarely rhizomatous) flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus '' Amaryllis'' and is commonly known as the amaryl ...
)
Fauna
Egyptian mongoose
The Egyptian mongoose (''Herpestes ichneumon''), also known as ichneumon (), is a mongoose species native to the coastal regions along the Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and Turkey, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrub ...
(''Herpestes ichneumon'')
File:Atelerix algirus.jpg, North African hedgehog (''Atelerix algirus'')
File:Petrosaltator rozeti-Zootaxa.jpg, North African elephant shrew (''Petrosaltator rozeti'')See also
*Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe
The Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion of North Africa. It occupies interior plateaus and mountain ranges of the Maghreb region, lying generally between the coastal Mediterranean wo ...
– ''lower elevations''
*Mediterranean woodlands and forests
The Mediterranean woodlands and forests is an ecoregion in the coastal plains, hills, and mountains bordering the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean in North Africa. It has a Mediterranean climate, and is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands ...
– ''higher elevations''
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Geographical areas Natural regions Mountains of Libya Jabal al Akhdar Derna District Cyrenaica Geography of Libya