The Municipality of Hammana has taken a landmark series of municipal and presidential decisions that place the town at the forefront of community-based conservation in Lebanon, formally anchoring the Hima approach within local governance and positioning Hammana as a national model for Smart Hima implementation.
Through an integrated legal and institutional framework, Hammana has officially adopted the Homat Al Hima approach, established a Hima Committee for 2025–2026, designated a municipal center as the national Hima hub, and committed to a long-term environmental vision that links biodiversity protection, sustainable livelihoods, youth leadership, and responsible eco-tourism.
These decisions collectively reinforce Hammana’s commitment to the Hima philosophy as a living system of governance, rooted in cultural heritage and adapted to modern environmental challenges. The Hima is recognized not only as a conservation mechanism, but as a pillar for long-term environmental protection, social cohesion, civic participation, and responsible local economic development.
Central to this framework is the formal recognition of Homat Al Hima, trained community and youth guardians entrusted with protecting biodiversity, ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources, leading eco-tourism and bird-watching initiatives, and promoting environmental education and community engagement. The municipality has committed to expanding training opportunities for youth and widening participation in Hima-related activities, ensuring that conservation translates into leadership, skills development, and local ownership.
To ensure that policy commitments translate into action, the Municipality of Hammana has established a Homat Al Hima team and designated a Hima Coordinator, creating a permanent operational structure for implementation, monitoring, and coordination. This structure enables continuous collaboration with the Homat Al Hima Programme of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL), strengthening local capacity, responsiveness, and long-term sustainability.
In a decisive operational step, Hammana has allocated a dedicated municipal center to serve as the official Hima Center in Lebanon, managed in cooperation with SPNL. The center will host national trainings, workshops, youth leadership camps, exhibitions, and community activities related to environmental protection and civic participation, positioning Hammana as a learning and coordination hub for municipalities across the country.
“Hima Hammana has the potential to become a Smart Hima model for the other Hima sites across Lebanon,” said Assad Serhal, Director General of SPNL. “This is an absolutely brilliant step forward. Building on these municipal decisions, we are moving toward a five-year action plan with clear targets and measurable goals, starting with the Homat Al Hima and Droub El Hima programmes.”
As part of this momentum, SPNL and its partners are launching a national civic initiative, Friends of Droub El Hima (أصدقاء دروب الحمى), designed to engage citizens, youth, and nature enthusiasts in protecting and promoting Lebanon’s Hima landscapes and ecological corridors. An online registration platform and outreach materials are currently being developed to facilitate broad public participation.
The municipal framework also commits Hammana to advancing eco-tourism, rural tourism, and bird-watching, through the development of trails and infrastructure, the integration of the Hima approach into local tourism strategies, and the promotion of Hammana as a model destination for responsible, nature-based tourism.
Looking ahead, Hammana has adopted a long-term environmental vision aimed at positioning the Upper Metn region as a recognized Natural Park, protecting forests, water resources, wildlife habitats, and traditional landscapes, while advancing biosphere reserve designation in alignment with UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme. This vision places Hammana at the heart of an integrated landscape approach where conservation, community well-being, and sustainable development progress together.
By combining clear legal commitments, institutional structures, community guardianship, and strategic partnerships, Hammana moves decisively from declaration to implementation. With this integrated approach, the town confirms its role as a pioneer in community-led conservation and a key contributor to shaping the future of the Hima movement in Lebanon, demonstrating how local governance, civic engagement, and environmental stewardship can come together in a smart, inclusive, and forward-looking model.
