Recognising that students in Lebanon, like in many places around the world, do not always have the opportunity to be in close contact with nature, the Agency for Teaching French Abroad (AEFE) launched this year and for the first time, an ecological initiative in its affiliated schools/ On the agenda: sorting waste to make compost, growing a vegetable garden and selling local and seasonal produce in the school canteen.
Observation of the immediate natural environment was also encouraged such as naming the species of birds in the school playground or recognizing the plants and trees around the school.
Students were also invited to build birdhouses and create a garden managed by them. In the process, pupils were introduced to cutting and grafting techniques, and learnt important values such as perseverance, patience and mutual aid.

Photos of the educational gardens will be displayed and the winners of the best gardens will be announced today in our garden. We will be giving away plants from our nursery as well as Charles Corm's collection of poems on flora and fauna, "La Petite Cosmogonie Sentimentale".