Launching the first network of walking trails around the Mediterranean Sea

Beirut/PNN/ In the Lebanese capital, Beirut, the launch of the first network of walking trails around the Mediterranean Sea was celebrated, involving a group of Arab countries.

The launch event of the network took place on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Britannia Palace Hotel in Broumana, Lebanon, with the participation of various partner entities.

The organizers of the network stated that its launch came after the efforts of the Lebanese Mountain Trail Association, the Jordan Trail Association, the Palestine Heritage Trail Union, and the Afarat and Tetraquatic institutions came together to launch the first network of walking trails around the Mediterranean Sea in an event to be held on September 28, 2023, in Lebanon.

According to the network's organizers, the "Mediterranean Basin Trails Network" was established to create a common tool at the Euro-Mediterranean regional level to address the challenges of managing, structuring, enhancing, and organizing long-distance hiking trails, as well as promoting economic development in rural areas through hiking tourism.

The project was implemented with the support of the French Development Agency (AFD). The network includes a group of five partners representing four countries on the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. These partners are the Jordan Trail Association, the Lebanese Mountain Trail Association, the Palestine Heritage Trail Union, Afarat, and Tetraquatics.

The Mediterranean Basin Trails Network aims to unify hiking trails around three main areas, notably the economic domain, by supporting income-generating opportunities to empower local rural communities.

In the environmental domain, by implementing measures to mitigate the effects of climate change along the routes.

And in the tourism domain, by promoting sustainable tourism and leading hiking initiatives around the Mediterranean Sea.

It is worth noting that the partners are a group of institutions with extensive experience in trail tourism in the Arab world, and they are linked to donor agencies with experience in this field and a long history of supporting trail tourism, including the French Afarat Foundation, a tourism training and consulting center based in the French Alps since 1965, specializing in sustainable tourism development. Afarat leads several projects in France and abroad with the support of a network of experts in rural tourism.

As for the partner associations, the Jordan Trail Association (JTA) is a long-distance hiking trail in Jordan that extends from Um Qais in the north to Aqaba in the south. It offers 40 days of walking over a distance of 675 kilometers of trails, passing through 75 villages. The trail traverses a variety of landscapes: from forested hills in the north to rugged valleys overlooking the Jordan Valley, the pink rocks of Petra, and the sandy deserts and mountains of Wadi Rum, to the clear waters of the Red Sea. The Jordan Trail also passes through the history and culture of Jordan. Walking on the trail allows you to taste a variety of Jordanian cuisine, meet residents, and sleep in local homes. The trail also passes through key historical sites in the region such as Um Qais, Jerash, and Petra.

In Lebanon, the Lebanese Mountain Trail Association has been the entity specializing in developing and maintaining the Lebanese Mountain Trail (LMT) and its sub-trails since its founding in 2007.

The association has also developed programs in various fields targeting environmental education, and the protection of natural and cultural heritage along the trail and in the surrounding areas.

The association's programs aim to support and improve economic opportunities for rural communities by developing a network of guesthouses and local guides.

The Lebanese Mountain Trail Association has become a national and regional reference in the field of trail development and management and has trained and assisted a large number of local and regional stakeholders in this field.

Among the international partners is also the Tetraquatics organization, a non-governmental organization specializing in development based in the French Alps. Over the past 30 years, the organization has been committed to sharing its expertise in rural development and preserving cultural heritage with communities around the world. Today, Tetraquatics operates a center in a regional network of experts: elected officials and mountain communities, innovative companies, tourism professionals, educational institutions and universities, institutions, and organizations.

As for the French Development Agency, it implements France's policy regarding development and international solidarity. Through its activities in public sector financing and non-governmental organizations, as well as its research publications (issued by the French Development Agency) and training in the field of sustainable development (the French Development Agency's training center), and awareness campaigns in France, the French Development Agency funds, accompanies, and accelerates paths towards transition to a fairer and more resilient world.

We build together with our partners for common solutions with the people of the South and their benefit. Our teams follow more than 4,000 field projects in 115 countries around the world and in crisis-affected areas. All our programs and projects aim to protect common goods and enhance climate, biodiversity, peace, gender equality, education, and health, thus contributing to France's commitment to sustainable development for a shared world.