Lebanon Mountain Trail attracts 25 thousand trekkers in 2015

The Lebanon Mountain Trail Association, (LMT), held last Friday its annual dinner at Sursok Villa Garden in Ashrafieh, Beirut, in the presence of the Minister of Tourism, Michel Pharaon and of a crowd of environmental, rural and municipal figures. During the ceremony, Association President Nadine Weber clarified that the trail connects together a number of towns, rural, cultural, and heritage, and historic landmarks. She expressed her hopes that the trail becomes a key rural tourism destination particularly that over 25 thousands nature lovers have trekked the trail this year while expecting the number to rise to as much as 100 or 200 thousand trekkers by the end of the year. Weber pointed out that LMT aims at preserving endangered mountain sites by protecting them from destructive acts, most importantly the recent unsystematic waste dumping, quarrying, road words, random urban constructions, tree cutting and hunting. Likewise, Minister Pharaon maintained that rural tourism across Lebanon has exceptionally flourished during the current year, stressing the need to remove all obstacles facing the project. (Al Diyar, October 3, 2015)