Ecotourism campaigns Have Succeeded As Witnessed In Arsal, North East Lebanon

Ecotourism in Lebanon really took off as a serious tourism activity in the year 1997 when people began to take annual trips to Arsal which is a huge village in North East Lebanon. The aim of the ecotourism campaigns used here were to add strength to the relations between the local community and those of the Association for Rural Development in Arsal (ARDA) that is a major player in environment and development activities, and is a non-government organization (NGO) as well as partner to Reforestation Network. They were to introduce the unique culture and also nature to friends of Arsal and also provide to ARDA a means to generate income.

Need For Better Organization And Coordination

In the recent past, this region has witnessed growth in ecotourism which has raised the need to have a well managed ecotourism campaign so that this sector can be better organized and there can also be better coordination with those that provide services and also to even certify these processes so that one knows which the proper services are.

Thus, in the year 2000, an organization known as Green Line set into motion the wheels that were to help in the development of ecotourism that ultimately took the shape of an ecotourism campaign that involved municipalities, youth groups as also NGOs. The program so developed included agro-tourism in the form of olive oil production, bee keeping as well as processing of cherries and apricots, and also ecotourism that was taking place in places such as Horsh Ehden, Kammou’a, Barouk cedars as well as the valley Nahr Ibrahim.

This ecotourism campaign aimed at highlighting as well as publicizing ecotourism as a concept as well as a method to conserve nature’s resources while providing a means of earning an income to the local peoples. It also meant needing to coordinate between ecotourism providers and different municipalities as also governmental bodies and NGOs so that a viable network to sustain this form of tourism could be formed.

There have been a number of notable achievements that have resulted from this ecotourism campaign including of course assessing and developing ecotourism sites in places such as Mtein, building teams of experts in ecotourism and also being able to secure adequate sources of finance in the form of income as well as support.

In addition, this ecotourism campaign has been able to organize Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops meant to impart knowledge to teachers, staff involved in administration as well as for parents from many schools. It is ecotourism campaigns such as this that raises hope for being able to conserve nature in different parts of the world, while also sustaining local communities as well.