Protected Areas in Egypt: Moving Forward

January 2007

Protected Areas in Egypt have been a fundamental management tool for nature conservation during the past 20 years, with an increasingly important role in the social and economic development of the country. The protection of critical habitats by means of the establishment and management of a national system of protected areas has proved to be the most effective and efficient tool to preserve the natural heritage and resources in a sustainable way. These are some of the conclusions published in the new report: “Protected Areas of Egypt: Towards the Future” now available online.

On January 4th 2006 the Prime Minister, H.E. Ahmed Nazif, signed a decree (No. 10 of 2007) to establish the Gilf Kebir as Egypt’s newest protected area. The decree has formally created one of the world’s largest protected areas extending over 47,940 km2 of the Western (Libyan) Desert which is almost 5% of Egypt’s land area and one and a half times the size of Belgium.

Up to date, Egypt had a network of 24 protected areas covering 98000 Km2 – approximately 10% of the land and marine surface – representative of a wide variety of physiographic habitats, biodiversity hotspots, cultural heritage sites, geological formations and remarkably beautiful landscapes. Other 16 sites have been proposed for protection, according to the IUCN criteria adopted nationally which concern mainly the inherent value of the resource judged by its integrity and importance for biodiversity conservation, its contribution to the network, its potential to generate direct economic benefits for the country and the local communities, and the degree of threat to which it is exposed.

International cooperation projects have been essential during the last 15 years, in the establishment of infrastructures and management plans for protected areas that were both highly vulnerable to increased human impact (largely from tourism) and also most important economically (due also to tourism).

With the financial support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IUCN is collaborating with the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) and the Nature Conservation Sector (NCS) to improve the management of these protected areas with the analysis of governmental structures, training of state officials and management experts including the private sector, assessment of natural resources, ecotourism services and its financing as well as education and awareness campaigns.

A holistic project technically assisted by IUCN with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is addressing institutional reforms to develop the vision, policy platforms and action programmes of the departments responsible for nature conservation. IUCN is also collaborating in the areas of Wadi-El Rayan, Siwa and Salum in precise initiatives to evaluate and enhance the natural resources, sustainable livelihoods for local communities and the development of ecotourism services.

For more information:

Protected Areas of Egypt: Towards the Future
(PDF - 6MB)