Egypt’s tourism increase dangers ruining nation’s seashores perpetually, campaigners warn | EUROtoday
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A battle is brewing on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, the place a pristine seaside faces potential improvement inside a protected nationwide park.
Ras Hankorab, a jewel of Wadi el-Gemal National Park recognized for its untouched marine ecosystem, is presently closed off, its future hanging within the steadiness.
Located 90 minutes from Marsa Alam airport and 4 hours from the bustling resort of Hurghada, Ras Hankorab boasts crystal-clear waters and white sand seashores.
However, authentic plans suggest remodeling this pure haven with lodging huts, a restaurant, and a farm. Conservationists are elevating the alarm, warning that improvement threatens a fragile ecosystem supporting turtles, coral reefs, sea grasses, and numerous fish species. Local communities additionally concern the everlasting lack of this valuable pure useful resource.
Egypt, grappling with financial challenges, has been promoting funding licenses inside its nationwide parks to stimulate earnings. Tourism represents a cornerstone of the Egyptian economic system, with a current UN report estimating annual tourism income at $14.1 billion in 2024, surpassing even Suez Canal revenues.
While Egypt welcomed 17 million guests in 2024, a 17 per cent annual enhance, the federal government sees potential for additional development.
By increasing infrastructure, enhancing air connectivity, and selling sustainable coastal and desert tourism, Egypt goals to compete with regional tourism giants like Turkey (62 million guests), Greece (35 million), and Dubai (18.7 million).
The query stays whether or not this financial drive will come at the price of irreplaceable pure treasures like Ras Hankorab. Environmentalists and native communities warn that even gentle development on the seaside would destroy one in all Egypt’s final untouched marine sanctuaries.
Asmaa Ali, government director of Ecoris, an Egyptian sustainable improvement and conservation group, stated the nationwide park and seaside is among the world’s most necessary spots for biodiversity.
“It has one of the most precious coral reefs, located at the reserve’s beach. It also has sea turtles at risk of extinction, it has mangrove trees,” she stated.
Sherif Baha el-Din, a co-founder of Wadi el-Gemal nationwide park, stated vacationers search unspoiled nature, not concrete resorts.
“The more development on the Red Sea coast, the more important it becomes to leave this small part untouched,” he stated. “If we must develop, let’s talk about where. But the best thing to build here is nothing at all.”
The Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA), an NGO, notes that the reef is so vital as a result of it is among the world’s most tolerant of local weather change, and has the potential to repopulate different reefs and even carry again some from extinction.
Revenue from National Parks
Over the previous decade, modifications to the regulation have allowed spots inside Egypt’s nationwide parks for use for industrial initiatives. Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad stated initiatives inside protected areas together with nationwide parks surged from 10 in 2016 to 150 in 2024, with income growing by 1,900 per cent.
Egypt’s Environmental Affairs Agency initially provided the operation of Ras Hankorab for tourism use to traders, albeit below strict situations. However, accountability has now moved to a authorities fund, the minister stated in a current presentation on Wadi el-Gemal. She declined to remark additional.
Worried conservationist teams have filed an enchantment with a state prosecutor, alleging improvement shouldn’t be assembly safety legal guidelines and would injury a public useful resource.
Locals say they’ve been sidelined. Many as soon as made a dwelling from low-key eco-tourism however at the moment are successfully barred from the seaside.
“I used to take my kids there for free. Now, I have to pay 250 Egyptian pounds ($5) just to enter,” stated Mohamed Saleh, a tribal elder. “They didn’t consult us. They didn’t hire us. They just took over our land.”
Fouad and different Egyptian officers argue that eco-tourism and funding can coexist. She defended improvement of the seaside and Wadi el-Gemal as a “controlled expansion,” guaranteeing sustainability whereas attracting income.
Her ministry will monitor and consider the proposed initiatives in delicate areas, together with Ras Hankorab, Ras Boghdady, and the world-renowned diving spot the Blue Hole, she stated. However, critics see the ministry as missing the assets for that.
Egypt has misplaced environmental experience as a consequence of low wages and restricted assets, conservationists say. In 2007, Wadi el-Gemal had 20 wildlife specialists monitoring biodiversity. Today, there are solely a handful, stated an NGO member.
The Environment Ministry and the State Information Service didn’t reply to a Reuters request for remark.
“This [development] completely undermines the idea of eco-tourism. How does handing over protected land to private investors align with conservation?” stated environmental lawyer Ahmed El-Seidi.
“The state is obliged to protect its natural resources and to protect the rights of future generations in these resources.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ras-hankorab-egypt-beach-tourism-b2733534.html