The Lebanon Mountain Trail Association (LMTA) celebrated its 10th birthday at a gala dinner held at La Magnanerie in Sid El-Bauchrieh, on September 29, 2017, in the presence of 500 guests. Among the invitees who attended the dinner were H.E. Mr. Michel Pharaon, Minister of State for Planning Affairs, H.E. Ms. Christina Lassen, EU Ambassador to Lebanon, H.E. Mr. Karim Ben Cheikh, French Consul in Lebanon, Ms. Youmna Ghorayeb, representative of H.E. the Minister of State for Administrative Reform, representatives of the Swiss Embassy in Lebanon, as well as sponsors, partners and friends of the association.

Participants were able to discover an exhibition of the various milestones and activities of the LMTA (maintenance of the Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT), trainings of local guides, work with guest houses, raising awareness in schools, etc.) and savor traditional dishes prepared by the hostson the trail. Ms. Martine Btaich, President of the Association, recalled during her speech the importance and the urgency of saving the millennial heritage that the trail represents, as well as the Lebanese mountains, in order to encourage local populations to promote their respective regions and benefit economically from them. The « godfather » of the LMT, Mr. Joseph Karam, who once had the original idea of the trail and who, through his firm ECODIT, specializing in environmental consulting, initiated the LMT project more than twelve years ago, expressed his pride in assisting to the sustainability of the trail thanks to the hard work of the Association's members and volunteers in addressing the enormous current challenges. As for H.E. Mr. Michel Pharaon, he congratulated the team and the association for the colossal amount of work carried out but the association and which helped to fill the institutional gaps in the country.

Crossed every year by thousands of hikers, the Lebanese mountains are threatened by the unplanned development of the mountains and the lack of interest in the protection of the natural and cultural heritage. Every year, the LMT promotes the different trailside villages and towns, the touristic sites to visit, the local products and culinary specialties to savor, the local activities to discover, and of course, the accommodation options in guesthouses or other local lodging facilities.