SMAP 98 Project: Integrated Coastal Zone Management between Jbeil-Amsheet (Lebanon) and Latakia (Syria)

Financed by the European Union under the Mediterranean European Development Assistance (MEDA) Regional Indicative Program – Short-term Mediterranean Action Plan (SMAP), the project has been coordinated by ENVIROTECH LTD Beirut and Damascus, and supervised by the Ministry of Environment, Lebanon and the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, Syria with the technical assistance of SIDI/EUROECO of Italy.

The coastal strip between Jbeil / Amsheet (Lebanon) and Latakia (Syria) is endowed with an abundance of natural and archeological sites, some of which have been adequately developed, such as the remains of the ancients Lebanese towns of Byblos (now Jbeil) and Tripoli (now Tarabulus). However, many other sites of natural interest are not or underdeveloped and could profit of a better-planned tourism development.

Therefore a demonstrative action based on a Tourism Management Plan was carried out on a specific area to study its feasibility. The purpose of this plan is to enhance the local tourism resources and to evaluate the impacts of Tourism activities on the development of the area.

This demonstrative action should allow us to achieve the following objectives:

1. Preserve and develop all resources through organized activities with low environmental impact

2. Protect the local environment, in part because it is the livelihood of the destination

3. Address the needs of tourists and the economic interests of the tourism industry

4. Approach tourism development in a way that reduces the negative impacts

5. Rediscover and enhance the natural, historical and artistic resources of the region

6.  Estimate the influence of the environmental friendly hotel sector on the touristic development  

7.  Incite the production of local typical products by adopting efficient marketing measures

8. Protect local people’s business interests, heritage and environment

9. Create quality standards

Through this demonstration action, Envirotech Ltd. developed and implemented a Tourism Management Plan for the selected town of Enfeh in northern Lebanon. Envirotech Ltd. organized outdoor activities (hiking, mountain biking, sea kayaks, fishing and camping) as well as eco-tourism circuits and trails for the discovery of the area’s: traditional practices (olive oil and wine presses, Salinas and wind wheels, traditional fishing practices), the old town, religious monuments, archaeological remains, natural emplacements and ecosystem. Envirotech Ltd. also organized accommodation in the town of Enfeh such as cottages and bed and breakfast hostels. All along these circuits, tourism panels were placed to guide the tourist through the sites to be seen and the aspects of importance to be noticed.

Envirotech Ltd. also developed eco-tourism maps and a brochure explaining the importance of the site from the natural, cultural, archaeological, historical and tourism aspects. These brochures, which were disseminated to a wide target group, provided not only a marketing tool for eco-tourism in Enfeh but also an awareness tool to highlight the importance of the site.

Envirotech Ltd. finally published a Manual for a more Efficient Tourism Development comprising the methodology for developping a Tourism Managemnt Plan and the detailed step-by-step approach followed for its implementation in the Enfeh eco-tourism example. This Manual will familiarize Lebanese municipal authorities with sustainable tourism principle. It will:

• Help them realize their importance in Sustainable Tourist Development

• Emphasize their capacity to participate in the tourist offer in a sustainable approach

• Urge them to protect and valuate their cultural, religious and natural heritage.

 Implementing such a Manual is the “Valorization of Tourist Resources”  that takes into consideration the following factors:

• Economic: Production of goods and services

• Environmental: Conservation and prudent management of natural resources

• Social: The maintenance and enhancement of quality of life

 El-Khiam Tourism Project

The objective of the proposed project is the development of a tourism plan of action for the town of el Khiam, South Lebanon based on the local historical, environmental, cultural, and socio economic resources of the town.

The development of the ecotourism plan is set to be achieved through the following:

• Assessing the tourism potential of the town through an appraisal of its available archaeological, historical, cultural and socio economic resources.

• Evaluating the environmental conditions of the town addressing solid and liquid waste management and urban planning.

The outputs of the project are expected to be:

• A tourism plan proposing a feasible mechanism of action to make use of the tourism potential of el Khiam helping in the economical, environmental and social sustainability.

• Recommendations to alleviate the environmental constraints in the town serving as adequate infrastructure for tourism, and providing a better quality of life for the locals.

• Tourism maps showing all the planned trails.

• Environmental Assessment maps.