Law No.257 of 2014 creating the Jaj Cedar natural reserve.

This Law consisting of 18 articles aims at establishing a natural reserve in Jbeil District. The main purposes of this Law are: protecting the natural resources of surface water and groundwater from pollution; protecting the environmental balances, wetlands and ecosystems; maintaining the landscape, plant, and animal species, especially the endangered, rare, or unique elements; and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources for scientific research, regulated environmental tourism and the organic farming, to preserve them for the public wellness and the future generations.
The Law establishes that the area can be divided into zones of absolute protection and/or sustainable development zones; all the activities in the nature reserve and building permits in the zone of transition are subjected to the Ministry of Environment approval. The management is responsible for a committee of 7 volunteers supervised by a representative of the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture, working together with the private property owners, the local municipalities, and the associations interested in environmental and development matters. The committee is supported by a working group responsible for the daily management of the reserve. Article 8 deals with the rights and duties of private property owners. The Law prohibits any act or conduct that would harm the nature reserve, especially any activity that may impact or pollute the ecosystem or its natural balance, or prejudice the biodiversity in the reserve and within a distance of 500 meters from the border, such as cut down trees, grazing, extract minerals or water, game or waste disposal. The entry in the reserve will be paid.