The event was held at the Safir Hotel, in Raouche, under the auspices of the Directorate General in the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, and was funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation. Representatives of partnering institutions, project participants, Ibsar members, and members of the press attended the event.

Ibsar seeks to turn this competition into an annual event. The main aim of this competition is to promote local participation in the development of village green maps using a self-assessment approach. Participating villages would therefore engage their local communities with the help of locally formed committees to develop their own green maps. These maps would outline and detail the village’s natural resources and heritage and would recognize the efforts made towards conservation.

This year 18 villages were preselected by Ibsar  based on a Program which was initiated at the center in 2007 to aid in the conservation of Lebanon’s biodiversity and native tree species by engaging local citizens. The pre-selection process was based on two years planting activities in collaboration with 50 municipalities. An AUB faculty committee was formed to act as a jury and develop a criteria for judging taking into account the villages’ size, culture, as well as economic, environmental, natural and social resources and heritage.

Dr. Najat Saliba, Director of Ibsar, opened the ceremony with a few introductory words about the center and its initiatives. Dr. Saliba highlighted the important role that Ibsar plays in promoting biodiversity and nature conservation as well as engaging local communities to take such initiatives, regardless of the difficulties faced.

Mr. Khalil Hajal, Director General of Municipalities, welcomed the initiative that Ibsar has taken and praised the efforts of the participating villages. He stressed the importance of the collaboration between the local communities and Ibsar as well as that between the universities and the municipalities. He believes that this collaboration is an asset to the development of the community and the preservation of the environment and its natural resources.

Dr. Nahla Hwalla, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences , represented Provost Ahmad Dallal. In her turn, Dr. Hwalla praised the initiatives undertaken by Ibsar whose aims and efforts are touching Lebanon as a whole. She stressed the importance of Ibsar’s projects to Lebanon’s future, encouraging local communities as well as the public and private sectors to participate in projects such as the BVA.

BVA Principle Investigator and Chair of the Landscape Design and Ecosystems Management Department at AUb, Dr. Salma Talhouk welcomed and congratulated all participating villages for the efforts and enthusiasm they have shown throughout the competition. She praised the development of green maps which she considered an integral asset to each village in specific and Lebanon as a whole. According to Dr. Talhouk, Baldati Bi’ati targets the conservation efforts of each village, the promotion of awareness towards biodiversity and the protection of native species, and recognizes the natural resources and heritage of each village. According to Dr. Talhouk, the project revealed interesting information and statistics about the participating villages. She stated that,

most [villages] have more 20% green cover, harbor 24 Lebanese native tree species, and have allocated a combined 100,000 m² of public lands to tree planting. The project also showed that most villages have preserved traditional activities such as bee keeping, wild edible plants collection and local nature walks and are interested in encouraging ecotourism. The Coca-Cola Foundation has been an integral partner in helping to get this project on the road and we are extremely grateful to them for their continuous support.

Mr. Antoine Tayyar, representing the Coca-Cola Foundation, views the collaboration between private and public sectors as integral to the development of the country and the preservation of its natural and environmental resources.

The ceremony included a display of the villages’ green maps and featured a documentary highlighting best practices in every village. The BVA competition awareded certificates of best practices for all participating villages and gave four BVA awards in the form of Street Signs: the village of Aarsal, the Sustainable Management of the Jurd Award; the village of Niha, the Sustainable Management of Forest Award; the village of Kawkaba, the Sustainable Management of Waterfront Award; and the village of Meshmesh, the Environmentally Active Community Award.