Baldati Bi’ati 2015 awards for four villages

The American University of Beirut Nature Conservation Center organized last Saturday at the AUB campus and in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism a ceremony to launch the Baldati Bi’ati (my village is my environment) initiative awards for the year 2015 during which an exhibition of green maps of the municipalities took place. The project, funded by Coca Cola Foundation, has been working for four years with over 70 municipalities to map and preserve their natural and cultural resources within an inclusive participatory role of the local community. During the conference which was held in the presence of representatives of those municipalities, tour operators, events’ organizers as well as academic and rural tourism concerned figures, certificates were distributed among participants in Baldati Bi’ati 2015 and winners received awards as such: the town of Galboun, Byblos: urban and sustainable management and planning; Hadat al Jibbeh, Bshari: societal management and conservation of private forests; Aintoura, Kesrouan: sustainable management of public green spaces and walking (hiking) trails, and Rashana, Batroun: urban planning by local NGOs and artists. The 2015 environmental leadership awards went to Salim Ashkar from Khreibit al Chouf, who renovated his family’s 250-year old house and turned it into a guesthouse. Ashkar also works as an environmental tour guide. (Al Diyar, October 19, 2015)