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Egypt launches 1st campaign for eco-tourism, natural reserves
Egypt launched “Eco Egypt” campaign – the first overture for promoting natural protectorates and eco-tourism in Egypt – in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Egypt’s Tourism (MBDT) which is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The ministries of environment, tourism, antiquities and information have teamed up to spearhead this three-year initiative which is meant to promote natural reserves in Egypt and raise awareness among people about the importance of environment, natural resources and environmental tourism.
The campaign was triggered from Ras Muhammad natural reserve in the presence of Ministers Yasmine Fouad of Environment, Khaled Anani of Tourism and Antiquities and Osama Heikal of Information along with 30 foreign ambassadors in Egypt, representatives for international news agencies and the UNDP and public figures.
Under the campaign, a website will be launched alongside a number of social media platforms to highlight the natural wealth which Egypt has and the importance of protecting and developing it, Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad said.
She added that the campaign – which targets 13 natural protectorates – will encourage investments in eco-tourism in order to promote sustainability of natural resources.
The campaign will contribute to opening new vistas of sustainable eco-tourism in Egypt, Fouad said, highlighting the ministry’s efforts over the past period to develop the infrastructure and services of 13 protectorates.
She noted that the ministry worked on merging local communities of these protectorates into economic and social development activities to secure sustainable jobs for them. This has led to upping income of people in the protectorates of Fayyoum and Wadi el Gemal (Valley of the Camels) by 126-460 percent in one year.
She added that the political leadership is deeply interested in developing and managing natural protectorates in line with international standards to maintain them and magnify their social, economic and cultural benefits.
Maintaining biodiversity wealth in Egypt will promote environment and national economy as this will lure investments into the eco-tourism sector, she expounded.
The campaign presents an example of efforts to attain sustainable development as it takes into consideration the environmental, economic, social and health dimensions while promoting national economy, especially in view of the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis.
The campaign was launched as part of the “Go Green” presidential initiative which was triggered in January 2020 with an aim to spread awareness among people about the importance of changing their attitudes to save the environment.
The goals of Go Green initiative:
The three-year initiative aims to incentivize youths to protect the environment and natural resources, especially curbing air pollution in order to attain Egypt’s strategic goal to reduce air pollution caused by solid particles by 50 percent in 2030.
The initiative also seeks promoting the Egyptian economy, boosting competitiveness and creating jobs in addition to supporting Egypt to fulfill its regional and international undertakings under international conventions in order to achieve sustainability in using natural resources.
The Environment Ministry signed a cooperation protocol with the Higher Education Ministry to merge the environmental issues into the educational curricula.
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