Protected Areas in Egypt          

Date and time:  Thursday, 10 February from 3 to 5 PM

Venue: Petrified Forest New Cairo                    

Your Excellency Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment,

Mr. Hisham Okasha, Chairman of the National Bank of Egypt,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

• It is my pleasure and privilege to be here with you today at the launch of the Eco-South Sinai Campaign.
• This campaign is a key part of Eco-Egypt’s work, and it is especially relevant as we look forward to COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh this November.
• For two decades now, UNDP has been working with the Ministry of Environment to transform nature reserves across Egypt into eco-tourism sites.
• We have established visitor centres in 19 nature reserves, providing infrastructure and information services to visitors.
• Working with local communities, we have improved job opportunities for 20,000 families in different protected areas and raised the average income of local people at these sites by 126%.
• The Eco-Egypt campaign has succeeded in opening up new horizons for sustainable eco-tourism, attracting tourists to many beautiful places in Egypt that were less visited before, including South Sinai.
• Many tourists, however, are still not aware of all the great locations in this region that they can visit, including the Coloured Canyon and the Bedouin camps at St. Katherine.
• This is why the Eco-South Sinai Campaign aims to raise awareness of these lesser-known places and promote them as unique destinations for eco-tourism.
• Eco-tourism, or green travel, aims to reduce the adverse environmental effects of tourism as much as possible while increasing the positive socio-economic benefits of sustainable tourism.
• These benefits include jobs and livelihoods for local communities, as well as opportunities for better management of natural resources.
• In addition to eco-tourism on the ground, this project will also explore ways of harnessing the potential of virtual tourism, which has become increasingly popular due to the coronavirus pandemic and the travel restrictions this has imposed.
• Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Her Excellency, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, the Minister of Environment for her continued support and cooperation.
• I would also like to thank Mr. Hisham Okasha, Chairman of the National Bank of Egypt, for his partnership and commitment to encouraging eco-tourism.
• Last but not least, I would like to thank the team who put together this campaign and all my colleagues at UNDP.
• I look forward to future successful campaigns aimed at promoting environmentally friendly behaviour.

Thank you for your attention.