ATR Open Day: PINNA Association unveils its ECOMEL project

The Tunisian Association of Hikers (French: ATR) organised last Saturday, September 15th an Open Day during which it made an overview to its members and friends of nature of its innovations and projects of the year.

Held for the 7th consecutive time, the ATR’s Open Day was held in the Tunis city of Culture under the theme “Hikes in Tunisia: inclusive Innovations”.

Amir Bourguiba, Member of the Pinna Association and its representative in the Open Day of the ATR Association, gave an exclusive interview to TunisianMonitorOnline during which he talked about the success of the ECOMEL project and underwater hiking.  The ECOMEL project is funded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCNmed).  Amir Bourguiba talked about the choice of the place for hiking, the protocol, the security measures, the environmental education in the regions and the promotion of eco-tourism.

He said that the ECOMEL project is a model project that once put in practice it will directly preserve the environment because it has a direct influence on local people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ecomel project took place in Malloula, in the governorate of Tabarka during which the PINNA associations members and hikers made underwater hikes to find out and observe biodiversity while finding underwater signs on which it is written instructions about environment preservation and sea animals’ protection. It is also an opportunity to get acquainted with living beings in the underwater world, Amir Bourguiba indicated.

He underlined that the ECOMEL project has a positive effect on the region’s economy. The project provides training to local people so as to create jobs for them, who in turn disseminate the culture of environment protection by training their co-citizens and persuading them to preserve these areas and its environment.

Amir Bourguiba highlighted the success of the ECOMEL project, saying: “It was a real success because as a result in the region of Malloula, the sailors formed an association for protecting Melloula beach. Besides, the IUCNmed chose our project as a model project.”

He added: ”we made cleaning campaigns in the region, which now has become a tradition for local people in Tabarka, from last year to now all the local people made cleaning campaigns for the sake of the region.

Our project is a real success because we managed to raise awareness among the people of the region for the importance of environment protection. We succeeded on all levels in our project, Amir Bourguiba Concluded.

The Pinna APDPE is an environmental association that endeavours for raising awareness for Ecotourism and disseminating the culture of environment and nature protection among Tunisians.

The Open Day of the ATR Association was marked by the participation of researchers, professors and scientific experts as well as other associations specialized in outdoor sports, who discussed the issues of the eco-tourism promotion and environment protection in Tunisia.

It also provided the opportunity for ATR members, partner associations, to participate in the debates and the various workshops around the theme of the day.

Since its creation in 2011, the ATR has been tasked with raising awareness of the importance of environment, ecological tourism and the intangible heritage of Tunisia’s regions by promoting hiking in these different regions that conceal unique economic, social, ecological and cultural characteristics.

TunisianMonitorOnline (MNHN)

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