I. BACKGROUNG AND OBJECTIVES

The semi-arid region (Jurd) of Hermel is one of Lebanon?s most beautiful regions that host 10s of sheep growers that rely on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in the Jurd for their livelihood in sheep growing.

Besides the variety of herbs and wild crop that are of high value, the sheep growers and farmers in the region finds the Lazzab/Juniper trees as a vital tree that supports their existence. The shade of this specific tree is the natural refrigerator for keeping milk cool for more than a day when temperatures in the region hits very high in summer. Because of the long distances and the difficulty for the milk transporters to reach the Jurd in time to transport the milk to the processing plants in Chtoura and because the incomes of the people in the region is very law and thus they can?t invest in electric generators and so forth, the preservation of the ecosystem in that region is not only a trendy matter that intellectuals talk about in as much as a vital need that people in Lebanon and specifically young people in the region need to understand and promote.

Nowadays, there is an increase interest in discovering rural Lebanon. Within the current situation, alternative tourism in remote mountains in the middle of Mother Nature is a cure to the stress of every day life.

Although the tourism industry employs thousands in direct jobs, ecotourism is yet to attract similar numbers of employees in the near future if stakeholders, donors and private sector increase their venturing in that direction. Because Jurd is the home for hundreds of sheep and goat growers that pamper their animals with the best natural herbs and pastures available in the world, Jurd is a potential source of income for many families that rely on herding, collection of medicinal herbs, and a refuge for those looking for tranquillity.
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Lebanon?s popularity for tourism can be attributed to its nature, good service, and excellent food. The Jurd provides relaxing ambiance, best quality sheep meat, premium quality cheese. Therofore, project main objective and scope are:

? To establish a sustainable tourism programme focussed on equitable benefits and cost of environmental markets to native community and tourists in the Jurd of Hermel.

? Scope:
?Enviropreneurship, Nature and Cultural Heritage? through public awareness about wild life in Lebanon, hiking, sheep milking, cheese making, entertainment and authentic food.









II. ACTIVITIES

1) Train young unemployed people from the region (around 150 trainees) of Hermel to understand the importance of the biodiversity of the Jurd regions to the sustainability of their livelihood through the very promising responsible ecotourism industry. The training will include besides wild life preservation, business planning, hospitality, and guiding tourists. This training will be done through on site lectures. A 20 leading trainees will become part of the project and will work part time on the project to guide tourists, and manage their stay (lodging, food).

2) Advocacy for community ownership and environmental governance by working with the community on organizing the anarchic hunting in the region with help from Municipalities and local government (Qaem makam). Project will prepare strict hunting guidelines with brochures/posters and help enforce the decisions in that regard with help from authorities and families that allow hunters to practice their hobby on their land in the region. This in addition to installing artificial bird nests will help preserve and increase the number of vital birds in the region.

3) Promote and preserve the other unknown aspect of the Beauty of Lebanon through hiking, donkey rides, and horse back-riding and camel rides as a green transportation tool and more. Project intends to purchase donkeys, and breed camels to be used as alternative to the use of 4X4 cars with all the negative aspects of its use in that fragile region. Camel growing in Lebanon is almost dead and the project intends to work on breeding camels as an animal that is original to the region due to the work that it can perform and the attraction it does on tourists. NIAAJ can help cover part of the costs of managing the animals for sustainability.

4) Increase income generation to the communities by entertaining people and serving authentic Lebanese ?baladi? food in a nomad lifestyle setting near sheep growers and their tents. Such food has herbs, akkoub, capers, eggs, organic meat, besides organic dairy products. The project will enhance and improve rural and cottage food industries linked to small ruminant animals due to their natural link to the preservation of the nature and the diverse trees, bushes and herbs in the Jurd. This is done through promoting the cottage food industry by working on quality, hygiene, authenticity, presentation, preservation, packaging, and labelling so tourists can eat such products, purchase them and look for them in the market in the future. Work with women coop of Marwahin and with the women of the shepherds on that in collaboration with the Chamber of Industry Trade and Agriculture of Beqa?a by using its food development pilot plant in Zahle and the experiences they provide.

5) Install tarps and tents with their facilities to help visitors/trainees stay in the remote Jurd and learn about biodiversity on site. Besides the tarps in the Jurd, the restoration and furnishing of few old style rooms (Mrah) at Assi River and at Beit El Tashem Chalets at Dardara Falls are vital for the comfort of some visitors. Beit El Tashem?s Dardara location will be used as a base for training on Trout fish industry, Paolonia tree plantation (commercial tree used for its expensive wood as alternative to cutting trees), cheese making, Juniper propagation and so forth.

6) A short (10 minutes) documentary about the Jurd and the project to be broadcasted on TV in addition to fact sheet production and distribution to newspapers.

In every activity, a group of young people and experts from the region will be involved from the onset to the evaluation. Key staff on project will be from the local area. This project is born in Hermel Jurd and is adopted and endorsed by some enlightened people in the region.