Projects

International assistance has played a large part in the development of Parks Egypt. Since 1989, some 14 major projects have been carried out in cooperation with the Government of Egypt to develop Egypt's capacities in protected area management. Most of these projects have aimed at establishing or strengthening the management of a particular park or sector.

While it is in the interest of the NCS to have trained Egyptian nationals staffing these projects, there is also a continuing need to study models of protected area management, especially those developed in other African and Middle Eastern countries. Staff training programs and career development, through higher studies both in Egypt and abroad related to these projects, have been central for the development of qualified personnel and the success of these projects.

During the past fifteen years, donor funded projects were instrumental in establishing infrastructure and management for protected areas that were considered both highly vulnerable to increased human impacts (largely from tourism) and also most important economically (due to tourism). The benefits of these projects, both in infrastructure and training of NCS staff, should be secured and continued through programs that follow these projects.

BioMap (Biodiversity Monitoring and Assessment Project)
The BioMap project had as its primary objective the development and strengthening of biodiversity research, monitoring and assessment across Egypt.

It researched and built an extensive database to map the distributions of species across Egypt, encourage and enhance the capacity of park rangers to monitor and collect data, raise public awareness of the need to conserve Egypt's biodiversity for future generations, and support work in local communities that makes sustainable use of local resources, preserving and celebrating the traditions and heritage of people in the context of their environment. You can visit the BioMap site at www.biomapegypt.org.

Gulf of Aqaba Protected Area Development Project
The EU supported several projects in South Sinai from 1989 to 2003. The initial project to develop management and infrastructure at Ras Muhammad National Park set high standards for protected area development in Egypt. This project was expanded in 1996 to include development of the South Sinai Sector, and further expanded as the Gulf of Aqaba Protected Area Development Project when the newly declared areas of Nabq, Abu Galum and Taba in the northern Aqaba Gulf were included. In addition, it helped fund the national training center at Sharm El Sheikh for training programs in protected area management.

In 1996, a parallel project advanced the St. Katherine Protectorate from "paper park" to a world class protectorate, paving the way for the declaration of its core area as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. Local community participation was an integral component of this project. In order to gain support of Bedouin residents of South Sinai, innovative community based programs in health and veterinary care, handcraft development and marketing, and ecotourism were instituted along with the selective employment of local residents as community guards and support staff in all areas of the protectorate.

The EU also supported a year-long mission to visit and assess every area of the country in order to develop systematic criteria for choosing areas to be recommended for protected area status.

Red Sea Area Development Projects
In the 1990s the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) supported a program for environmental surveys of the Red Sea coast and littoral. The project resulted in a rich database on the ecology, natural resources, biodiversity and land use of the area.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been involved with protected areas in the Red Sea region since 1994. The first project, the Red Sea Sustainable Tourism Initiative (RSSTI) established a management system, monitoring program, and boat mooring system for the protected Red Sea islands. These efforts were expanded under the Egyptian Environment Policy Program (EEPP) to develop management plans for the proposed Great Red Sea Marine Park. Working in cooperation with the Red Sea Governorate, the project focused on development and management of the existing Red Sea islands and mangrove protected areas, enhancing law enforcement, monitoring, maintaining mooring facilities, managing fee collection and raising public awareness.

The activities currently in progress under the LIFE Red Sea project include promotion of natural and cultural tourism, and engaging local Red Sea inhabitants in the economic, social and cultural benefits generated by tourism. The primary partners in the project are the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), the Tourism Development Authority (TDA) and the Red Sea Governorate (RSG).

Mediterranean Wetlands – MedWet Project
The MedWet programme originated from the Grado Conference in 1991. MedWet promotes the protection of wetlands in six Mediterranean countries through a combination of innovative land-use and wetland policies at national level, site protection and management at local level as well as regional networking and exchange of experience.

In Egypt MedWet project activities focus on 3 protected areas on the Mediterranean: Zaranik, Burullus and Omayed. Zaranik on the North Sinai coast lies on the eastern end of Lake Bardawil and is a very important site for migratory water birds passing through the Eastern Mediterranean region. Lake Bardawil is registered as a Ramsar Convention on Wetlands site due to its international importance for waterfowl populations. Lake Burullus, also a Ramsar site, contains both fresh and brackish water habitats and is an internationally important wintering and breeding site for waterbirds. Omayed encompasses another section of the Mediterranean coast and has a rich terrestrial biodiversity including populations of several endangered small mammals and reptiles.

The Egyptian MedWet project begun in 1999 was co-funded by a GEF grant and in-kind Government of Egypt contributions. It was successfully concluded in 2006. Its objective was to create or enhance structures for the management of wetlands through establishing inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms for projects undertaken at the local and national levels including developing demonstration activities at the most significant sites; awareness-raising, training and networking in local communities among key social and economic stakeholders; as well as establishing linkages among them along the Mediterranean. On-site mechanisms were built into the project from the outset to take into account local concerns to ensure community participation and economic benefits. One of the primary outputs of this project was the creation of a National Strategy for Wetland Conservation.

Wadi El Rayan Protected Area Development Project
The Italian Government, through the Italian Development Cooperation agency (IDC) with technical assistance from the IUCN, has been a leading contributor to the development of Egypt's protected areas. The Wadi El Rayan area is one of the most highly threatened reserves in the country, primarily due to its proximity to Cairo but also to the very sensitive nature of its desert flora, fauna and fossil deposits. As well as developing management and infrastructure, this project has generated several innovative sub-projects that are of great interest to other protected areas, such as the management experience gained during the inscription of Wadi El Hitan marine fossil area as a World Heritage Site. Local residents of the Lake Qarun area of Fayoum Governorate are being helped to develop skills in guiding visitors as well as developing facilities for tourists such as ecolodges.
Siwa Amelioration Project

An Italian Cooperation project undertook preliminary studies that led to the declaration of the Siwa Protected Area in 2002. The second phase of this project aims at consolidating the management of the area and promoting sustainable uses of the region's resources, primarily through nature and culture based tourism.

Institutional Reform of the Nature Conservation Sector
A multi-faceted project is in progress involving the Italian Cooperation, IUCN and the UNDP. Consisting of several structured efforts to improve the capacities and organizational structures of the NCS at the national level, the aim is to better meet the management and financial needs of Parks Egypt. This is a holistic institutional reform process aimed at developing visions, policy platforms and action agendas for the NCS. Key components of this project are the examination of the current status of protected area management; funding and mechanisms to ensure sustained funding; and the application of business principles to Egypt’s protected area management structure.

Development Partnerships
In addition to developing close working relationships with local communities in and near Park Egypt’s protected areas, the EEAA and NCS actively build partnerships with other government agencies, the private sector, non-governmental agencies, academic institutions and international institutions to gain support for protected area management activities.

A particularly important partnership was the among three Egyptian Government parties. The Tourism Development Authority (TDA), the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), and the Red Sea Governorate (RSG) worked together from 2000 to 2004 to develop a sustainable development model for nature based tourism in the southern Red Sea. The cooperation saw fruition with the "Mersa Allam Declaration" in May 2004 when the Ministers of Tourism and Environment together with the Red Sea Governor issued a declaration that the Red Sea area south of Mersa Alam is designated as an exclusive ecotourism area.

Great importance is given also to establishing close relations with city councils, governorate and other local officials and national governmental bodies. One of the private sector's largest group of stakeholders in conservation of protected areas is the tourism industry and a number of partnerships have been developed as a result of touristic use of protected area locations and resources.

The Director of NCS recently signed an agreement that twinned Wadi El Rayan Protectorate with the Gran Sasso National Park in Italy.