"Trapped" (محاصَرة) and "Exploited" (مستغَلة); (both 2023), are a part of EcoRove's project "Cedar Exodus" and trace symbolic, ideological, and ecological connotations of the Lebanese Cedar tree throughout history.

"Trapped" contrasts the Lebanese Cedar’s use as a symbol within present-day Lebanon’s political and social spheres with changes to the country’s climate and ecology. The ongoing disruption of the tree’s natural habitat—including by human-induced global warming and to accommodate the construction of luxury ski resorts, natural parks, trails, and high-end residential lots—is forcing changes to the Cedar’s shape and location. At the same time, the aesthetic representation of the Lebanese Cedar—which is found on Lebanon’s flag and currency—remains resolutely fixed, a static ornament used to fuel the nation’s economic and political agendas. The Lebanese Cedar is simultaneously glorified and destroyed, torn between religious, touristic, and domestic activities.

"Exploited" addresses the extraction and consumption of the Lebanese Cedar (Cedrus libani) by various civilizations throughout history. Deforestation of Mount Lebanon’s cedar forests dates back to the ancient Canaanites, who felled and sold the cedars to neighboring populations. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, Lebanese Cedars were used for building palaces, temples, ships, furniture, and tombs, and their resin was used for medicinal and ceremonial purposes, including mummification. In the Lebanese highlands, deforestation continued under early settlements of Druze and Maronites, who cleared forests to make way for homesteads and farms. Further deforestation of the trees took place at the hands of the Ottoman and British Empires, who used Lebanese Cedar timber for the construction of railroads and other infrastructure. Today, the protection of the most visited Cedrus libani forests—Shouf Biosphere and Cedars of God—effectively functions as a form of “greenwashing” for the factional leaders who proclaimed themselves the stewards of the land in the aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War.