
H.E. Dr. Nizar Hani
Minister of Agriculture, Lebanon
Dr. Nizar Hani is currently the Minister of Agriculture in Lebanon. He brings extensive experience in the fields of environmental protection, protected areas management, and sustainable natural resource governance.
From 2010 to 2025, Dr. Hani served as Director of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve, Lebanon’s largest nature reserve. He also acted as an advisor to the Protected Areas Department at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where he contributed to the development of the "30×30 Vision Roadmap for Protected Areas".
Between 2014 and 2020, he held the position of Senior Environmental Specialist at the Lebanese Ministry of Environment, overseeing the management of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve.
He taught as a lecturer at the faculties of agriculture at both Saint Joseph University and the Lebanese University, where he played a vital role in training new generations of professionals in the agricultural and environmental sectors.
In 2021, Dr. Hani was elected Vice Chair of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for the North Africa, West Asia, and Middle East region. Since 2023, he has also served as Advisor on Natural World Heritage to the Permanent Delegation of Lebanon to UNESCO.
Dr. Hani has received several prestigious awards and honors in recognition of his work, including: The Michel Batisse Award from UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme (2011); The Kenton Miller Award from the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (2020) and The Order of the Star of Italy – Knight Rank, awarded by the President of the Italian Republic in 2021 for his contributions to environmental protection and international cooperation.
He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Food Sciences from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), awarded with highest distinction and the committee’s commendation, as well as a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the Lebanese University.