Egypt's future conservation agenda
As Egypt enters the new millennium the
problems that face its environment and natural heritage
are becoming more and more challenging. With the increase
in the Egyptian population (now almost 77 million),
pressure on natural resources is greater than ever
before. Egypt is not different from perhaps the majority
of countries in the world, which face similar challenges,
but certain climatic and geographic factors (e.g.
extreme aridity) probably make the challenge greater.
In order to deal with these challenges, new and innovative
approaches to rationalizing the use of natural resources
are being developed and adopted. Three principles
guide Egypt’s future conservation agenda:
1. Conservation action is a priority: Egypt must expand and intensify conservation efforts inside and outside protected areas to target priority resources and address outstanding issues. Where practicable, this should be done in cooperation with local communities and other stakeholders.
2. Sustainable use of resources: Sustainability is crucial for the long-term success of conservation action. The sustainable use of biological resources depends on two factors; the biological capacity of the resource to support use without being degraded and the ability and willingness of the user to regulate use to within that capacity. This condition may be more easily fulfilled if there is equitable natural resource sharing.
3. Equitable natural resource sharing: All stakeholders have a right, as well as an obligation, to the resources they should conserve for future use. Local communities will protect medicinal plants if they have the exclusive right to harvest and legally sell them at a profit. Similarly they will protect delicate desert environments from disfigurement if they understand its adverse impact on tourism and if they are able to benefit directly from the tourist industry.
Some of the specific priority action areas include protected area management, eco-tourism development, hunting management, and regulation of resource use outside protected areas.
