The Minister of Environment Dr. Yasmine Fouad met with Dr. Mohamed Al-Atoum, consultant and head of the final evaluation committee concerning the Project for Integrating Biodiversity into Tourism in Egypt, which is affiliated to the Ministry and funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), to consult on the objectives on which the project was based and the extent to which it achieves those objectives in preserving biodiversity and linking it to the tourism sector in Egypt and the future visions of the Ministry for preserving natural resources, in the presence of Dr. Ali Abu Sinna, CEO of the Environmental Affairs Agency, Ms. Hoda Al-Shawadfi, Assistant Minister of the Environment for Eco-Tourism, via video conference, and Engineer Mohamed Aliwa, Director of the Project for Integrating Biodiversity into Tourism in Egypt.

Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of the Environment, confirmed that the project to integrate biodiversity into tourism in Egypt is one of the most difficult projects that the Ministry
has worked on, starting from its preparation, due to the complexity of formulating the project concepts, as well as the limitated number of biodiversity experts at the Arab level, in addition to the challenge of good management of natural resources in the tourism sector, which is a vital economic sector in Egypt.

Dr.Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, added that the beginning of the project in 2018 coincided with work on restructuring the environmental sector so that there was an integrated vision to develop the file of natural reserves and exploit them optimally. Therefore, work began on changing the language of dialogue around the word ‘protected’ and the necessity of not harming it, as well as working to develop the vision and ideas of those working in the reserve sector, working to develop reserves, especially in the Red Sea region and the northern islands, and issuing the first decision to increase entry fees for reserves in South Sinai. The greatest success of the project was building a bridge of c
ooperation between the environment and tourism sectors.

This coincides with the Ministry’s possession of the vision and ability by law to manage the file of eco-tourism in natural reserves in coordination with partners from the Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers, Diving Centers and Marine Activities by explaining the concept of eco-tourism and sustainable tourism and the returns from that to all parties.

The Minister of the Environment indicated that during the Corona pandemic, the Ministry of Environment played a distinguished role in establishing many activities through the project to revitalize the ecotourism sector, including setting up beetles and helping the tourism sector, especially diving centers, as well as developing guidelines to reduce the use of plastic on cruises, so it was a period of coordination and Cooperation between the two sectors and conducting joint work such as studies and training, whether with the private or government sector, which led to harmony between the two sectors in u
nderstanding the importance of preserving natural resources and creating a special eco-tourism product.

The Minister of Environment praised the role of the project in integrating biodiversity into ecotourism, noting that it was able to link individuals’ tourism activities to reserves, which was reflected in citizens’ interest in visiting reserves, so that more people would come to the reserves and be interested in protecting them, especially at the level of children and youth. The project was also able to develop guidelines for eco-lodges so that a decision would be issued by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to re-price the eco-lodge as a distinctive eco-tourism product that has a different status from traditional hotel establishments. The project also focused on integrating local communities in the development of natural reserves as main partners and protecting their cultural and environmental heritage and making it a unique tourism product, in addition to opening the door to marketing environmental
products.

Dr. Muhammad Al-Atoum, the environmental expert and head of the evaluation committee, explained his complete agreement with the minister’s vision of the importance of the project and that it contributed to bringing about a change in the visions of the tourism sector to make the preservation of biodiversity an added value, saying that ‘We, as project evaluators, appreciate all the project’s efforts to coordinate between the two sectors to create an eco-tourism product.’

Source: State Information Service Egypt