1999年，莫娜·哈利勒与朋友哈比巴·法耶兹回到她童年度假的黎巴嫩南部曼苏里海滩，修复了祖父母的房子并将其涂成橙色。那年夏天，她与一只正在筑巢的绿海龟偶遇——这是一种寿命可达100岁、会回到出生地产卵的极度濒危草食动物——彻底改变了她的生活。在八岁儿子不幸因船只撞击去世后，哈利勒曾在黎巴嫩内战期间从贝鲁特逃往荷兰，并在那里生活了十年。回到祖国后，她决定将余生完全奉献给海洋保护。她与法耶兹一起在“橙屋”发起了一项世界闻名的项目，以保护濒危的绿海龟和赤海龟的筑巢地。

面对政府资金的完全匮乏，哈利勒通过将橙屋作为基本的民宿运营来资助她的保护工作。她与国际志愿者一起进行清晨巡逻，清理垃圾、测量巢穴、安装保护铁丝网，并为全球保护组织记录数据。海龟面临着许多威胁，包括偷吃海龟蛋的狗、捕食幼崽的沙蟹和鸟类、塑料垃圾，以及使用密网或炸药捕鱼的当地渔民。然而，最严重的威胁来自快速的房地产开发，例如附近的帕拉吉奥海滩度假村，这带来了使刚孵化的小海龟迷失方向的人工安全照明。

哈利勒为海龟的权利进行了激烈的抗争，成功说服了两位当地市长宣布该海滩为社区保护区（"hima"），并阻止了当地的炸药捕鱼活动。由于该海滩距离以色列边境仅12公里，她的保护工作因地缘政治冲突而更加复杂。在2006年的战争中，她直言不讳地要求真主党战士离开海滩，尽管在她的房子被炮弹击中后，她不得不短暂逃离。她最终决定再也不离开曼苏里海滩，维持着她的庇护所并与当地的军事哨所共存，直到她76岁去世，留下了为保护黎巴嫩海洋生物而坚定奉献的遗产。

In 1999, Mona Khalil returned to her childhood vacation spot at Mansouri beach in southern Lebanon with her friend Habiba Fayed, restoring her grandparents' house and painting it orange. That summer, her encounter with a nesting green sea turtle—a critically endangered herbivore that can live to 100 years and returns to its birth site to lay eggs—transformed her life. Having previously fled Beirut for the Netherlands during Lebanon’s civil war after the tragic death of her eight-year-old son, Khalil decided to dedicate her remaining years entirely to marine conservation. Alongside Fayed, she launched a world-famous project at the "Orange House" to protect the nesting sites of endangered green and loggerhead turtles.

Facing a complete lack of government funding, Khalil financed her conservation efforts by operating the Orange House as a basic bed-and-breakfast. Together with international volunteers, she conducted early morning patrols to pick up litter, measure nests, install protective wire mesh, and record data for global conservation organizations. The turtles faced numerous threats, including egg-eating dogs, predatory crabs and birds, plastic debris, and local fishermen using close-mesh nets or dynamite. However, the most severe threat came from rapid real-estate development, such as the nearby Palagio Beach Resort, which brought artificial security lights that disoriented hatchlings.

Khalil campaigned fiercely for turtle rights, successfully persuading two local mayors to declare the beach a community reserve ("hima") and stopping local dynamite fishing. Her conservation work was further complicated by geopolitical conflict, as the beach sat just 12 kilometers from the Israeli border. During the 2006 war, she asked Hizbullah fighters to vacate the beach, though she later had to flee briefly after her house was hit by shells. She ultimately resolved never to leave Mansouri beach again, maintaining her sanctuary and coexisting with local checkpoints until her death at age 76, leaving a legacy of unwavering commitment to protecting Lebanon’s marine life.

Source: Mona Khalil defied danger to protect her “family”

Subtitle: Lebanon’s most dedicated conservationist was killed on June 19th, aged 76

Dateline: Jul 09, 2026 06:38 AM