Minister of Culture from Mount Musa Reserve: 3 Model Characteristics Worth Noting

Culture Minister Ghassan Salamé stressed that "the Mount Musa Reserve has several characteristics, most notably that it is a site that combines culture and nature with equal importance, meaning preserving the environment on one hand and safeguarding cultural and architectural heritage on the other. This site has become a model for its conservation of both the environment and cultural heritage."

He said: "The Ministry of Culture - the Directorate General of Antiquities is the concerned entity and primary partner in searching for, protecting, documenting, and highlighting antiquities. Among the reserve's findings published by the ministry's journal BAAL, which covers all matters related to archaeology, we are launching today in print form, hoping it will become electronic at the beginning of next year."
Salamé's remarks came during his participation with Tourism Minister Laura Khazen Lahoud in the celebration marking the 18th anniversary of the Mount Musa Reserve, invited by the reserve's president Pierre Doumit, in cooperation with the Mountain Trail Association, representatives from municipalities, local and international organizations, researchers, and interested parties.

In his speech, the Minister of Culture pointed out that this site has 3 model characteristics worth noting. The first characteristic: Combining culture and nature. He said: "This site combines culture and nature with equal interest, i.e., preserving the environment on one hand and preserving cultural and architectural heritage on the other," noting that generally there is a disconnect between the two, but this site has become a model for conserving the environment as well as cultural heritage with the same interest and enthusiasm. The second characteristic: Partnership in protection.
He added: "The second characteristic relates to the question: Who protects the reserves? Reserves need protectors, and the state alone cannot do this; rather, the state has duties, and others have duties too. This site is exemplary because it brought together three parties to protect it: First, the people and residents of this area in Mount Lebanon; second, an active and promising association founded 18 years ago that cared for, followed up on, insisted upon, strengthened, and developed this site; and third, the Ministry of Culture and the Directorate General of Antiquities, which participated in the search for antiquities and published a special issue of the ministry's journal 'BAAL'.
Salamé revealed in this context that the ministry recently received sufficient funding to digitize the entire 'BAAL' journal, making it available on a website searchable from anywhere in the world. Consequently, this special issue currently in hand in paper form will be globally accessible at the beginning of next year.
He continued: "The third characteristic: Justice for Lebanon's mountains. As for the third characteristic, Minister Salamé considered it the most important, as historical and archaeological research attention was long focused on coastal cities—Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Byblos, and Tripoli—which is natural due to the war that made researching Beirut's antiquities an urgent duty."
He added: "Being a son of a village in the mountains with great ruins, namely the ruins of Faqra, I always felt that the rights of the mountains were neglected. This has changed radically. Just last week, we were in Maasr el Chouf where we discovered a great Roman temple site at an altitude of 1200 meters, which will enter the scope of Lebanese antiquities."
The Minister of Culture concluded: "This specific site at an altitude of 1400 meters is exemplary because while most people were interested in what was happening on the coast, someone paid attention to a mountainous site. This country is naturally overlooking the sea, but it also leans against a proud mountain on the other side, and we must study the coast and we must also study the mountain. Therefore, I am very grateful for the invitation, and the Ministry of Culture has been alongside you and will remain so at least as long as I am there."