Established in 2007, the LMT runs 470km, linked by a chain of Druze, Muslim, and Christian guides and guesthouses. As such, the LMT is a deeply communal experience - reflective of the country’s hospitable heart - and offers hikers not only an experience in nature, but a holistic journey into the country’s unique cultural heritage. Each person comes to the LMT trailhead with their own motivations and arrives at its terminus with their own experience, but everyone leaves the trail with a shared sense of awe and admiration for Lebanon’s majestic mountains and the generosity of its people. For Lebanese hikers, their time on the trail returns them to a time and place before the social schisms caused by civil war and serves as a modest vehicle for peacebuilding. For diasporic Lebanese people who feel out of place on their return trips to Lebanon, the trail has offered a familiar point of reentry and (re)connection with their homeland. For foreigners, their experiences on the LMT powerfully changes their perceptions of the country and often leads to return visits.

While the LMT passes through natural reserves and protected areas, the vast majority of the trail is unprotected. Since 2007, the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association (LMTA) has redelineated over 200km of the trail’s path due to unchecked real estate development, illegal quarries, and solid waste dumpsites. These threats to the trail are not unique to the LMT, but are symptomatic of the vulnerabilities faced by all of Lebanon’s mountains. In line with the film’s title, which means “our mountain” in Arabic, the finished product will stir a sense of collective responsibility for the protection of Lebanon’s mountains, by highlighting both the human and natural richness found on the trail as well as the fragility of Lebanon’s environment. As such, we hope our film will not only support the LMTA, but also other environmental activists and organizations in mobilizing public support for protecting Lebanon’s natural heritage.

To learn more about the trail and the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association’s work visit: www.lebanontrail.org