ISLAMABAD, March 11: As part of the celebration’s of the International Year of the Mountains, a children rock-climbing competition was organized at the Margalla Hills Park near Daman-i-Koh on Monday.

The event was organized by the Adventure Foundation of Pakistan (AFP) in collaboration with CDA environment directorate and Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC). The purpose of the event was to create awareness among young people about environment-friendly use of mountains and preservation of the unique cultural heritage of mountain communities.

Some 45 boys and girls from various school and clubs participated in the two-day event.

The young participants also planted 400 saplings of pine trees. A mountain clean-up activity was also conducted to remove the waste, left behind by the visitors in the picnic area.

Talking to the young participants the AFP director-general, Aftabur Rehman, urged the mountain users not to spoil natural environment and help keep the mountains clean and green.

In the category of 10 to 14 years old children Shah Mir Shaukat of Government Primary School, Abbottabad got 1st position, Shabeer Ahmed of Herman Gmenier School, Dodial, 2nd and Rana Azher of Atchison College and Ammad Khan of Chand Bagh Schoolthe 3rd position was shared jointly by .

In the youth category (age group 15-17), Shakeel Ahmed of Vocational Training Centre Abbotabad stood first, Adeel Ahmed of Muraghzar School Dodial second and third position was shared by Ali Nawaz of Chand Bagh School and Rafaqat Khan of Muraghzar School.