Karst limestone is what makes Lebanon possible. The water, instead of immediately running off, percolates deep into the mountains and comes out as springs. The most famous of these is the one that comes out of Jeita cave and supplies Beirut with water year-round. In Lebanon, our karst limestone areas, had they been elsewhere, would have been set aside for protection. What was once a scenic drive in the Keserwan has become a heartbreaking example of environmental devastation throughout Lebanon.
New buildings line the road and extend away from it into the countryside between the villages.
Rock quarries have destroyed entire formations, devouring sculptures and digesting them into gravel and stones for new buildings. These new buildings are placed in new subdivisions where new roads cut through the landscape. The worst example is the Satellity development east of Faitroun . That same day in 1983 when I wandered among the rocks, I also stopped at the entrance from the main road to Satellity. There, a rock formation the size of a house had been beheaded so that a huge sign could be erected.