Beirut's largest green space off-limits to Lebanese

Beirut

WITH 30 hectares of pine forest, it could be Beirut's answer to New York's Central Park, but for 20 years the capital's largest green space has been de facto off-limits to Lebanese.

It's a galling situation for residents of the city's concrete jungle, where activists have spent years campaigning for Horsh Beirut to be reopened to the public. They have faced reluctance from the local municipality, which says the park that accounts for two-thirds of Beirut's green space is not properly equipped to receive crowds of visitors.

Home to around half of Lebanon's populat…