The seventh general mountaineering course of the Nature Friends club of Iran was held in District 16 of Tehran city. The course was hosted by the municipality of District 16 of Tehran with the cooperation of the municipality of Tehran city and the support of the embassy of Austria.

These courses, which are in the field of international activities of the Sports organization, are planned for 800 municipality employees of all 22 districts of Tehran. The aim here is to invite people to nature and to introduce the Nature Friends club to the public.

This cooperation is an important step in sports international activities and after these courses, we expect to observe the presence of the participants taking part in Eco-tourism and mountaineering to develop sustainable tourism.

International Nature-Friends club with 40 countries as its members and 125 years of experience is one of the greatest sports and cultural clubs in the world and Iran has joined this club since 2017.

This club has started its activities as the Nature Friends club of Iran and is continuing its activities in the fields of developing sustainable tourism, standardization, and inclusive educational programs related to eco-tourism and mountaineering. In line with these goals, the Iran nature-friends club has started its cooperation with Tehran municipality to educate 800 employees weekly.

The seventh course was started on 14th February hosted by the District 16 municipality of Tehran.

Living the nature, creating active and positive recreations among societies, and reducing the gap between people and nature are the most important goals of this club.

General informing about the destructive effects of urban life, filling the gap between people and nature by education, and general informing based on regional ecosystems, are the most important philosophy of the club. A hard strive to take to start inviting people to enjoy and protect nature.

The Nature Friends club of Iran has been chosen as the first country that has joined international nature friend in Asia.

The missions of this club, which tries to achieve its goals in the most favorable way, are inclusive information and education besides living the nature in the approaches of maintaining natural and cultural heritage in societies for all humans and sustainable tourism.

We hope that these provided educational projects result in an increase in public knowledge and encourage societies to play their role in eco-tourism.

The educational content of the seventh general mountaineering and eco-tourism course was provided in 3 days. The theoretical content was educated on 14th and 15th of February in the central building of District 16 municipality, and the third day was held as a general group mountaineering to educate the process of correct ascending in Latmal mountainous region located west of Tehran.

Educational presented topics in the seventh course of nature-friends:

Nature and mountains geography

Natural environment preservation

Sports and entertainment

Nutrition in nature

Personal health care in mountains

Photography in nature

Leadership in the group

Eco-tourism equipment- Nature hazards

The knowledge of practicing and Physiology in nature

Health indicators of elders

The topics were educated in 12 hours by the masters of this field.

Theoretical masters:

Mr. Farid roushanaee, nature-based photographer

Mr. Hosein Rasaee, mountain guide

Mr. Arash Iravani, nature guide

Dr. Sedaghat, Ph.D. of physical education and sports science

Dr. Khojasteh, nutrition expert

The first day of the seventh course on 14th February 14-20:

On the first day of the seventh general mountaineering and eco-tourism course, educational topics including Photography in nature, The knowledge of practicing and Physiology in nature, Health indicators of elders, and Eco-tourism equipment were taught.

The second day of the seventh course on 15th February 14-20:

On the second day of the course, Nutrition in nature, Personal health care in mountains, Nature hazards, Leadership in the group, Nature and mountains geography, and Natural environment preservation topics were taught.

The third day of the seventh course on 19th February 14-18:

The third day of day course was held as a general group mountaineering to educate the process of correct ascending. It was held in Latmal mountainous region located west of Tehran with the presence of the Social deputy of District 22 municipality of Tehran, Mr. Adab, and the deputy director of Men’s Sports in Sports Organization, Mr. Soleymani.

The participants trekked almost 6km distance (12km in general) up to the Latmal peak (2400m) and descended. This ascend lasted about 4 hours (2.5 hours ascending and 1.5 hours descending)