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Current status,
initiatives and major
accomplishments
Project status: Ongoing
Start date: April 2005
Expected end date: March 2008
Major accomplishments and initiatives:
A revalidation
of the project was carried out at the outset of activities, due to the
time elapsed since its original formulation and to better align its
expected outcomes with emerging priorities and circumstances. While the
principal outputs identified in the Project Document were maintained, the
resulting document widened the scope of the project to include the support
to the development of the NCS as a properly resourced institution, with
staff, funds and policies, able to manage a large protected area estate.
Enhancement of the Institutional and Technical
Capacity of the Nature Conservation Sector. The Project during its first year established, staffed and
equipped three Technical Units (Planning, EIA - Environmental Impact
Assessment, Outreach and Marketing) within the NCS, while a fourth
(Biodiversity) was established by
BioMAP project. The Technical Units have continuously provided effective technical support on a
variety of issues to the NCS Director's office as well as to protected
areas. The capacity of the staff was enhanced through various training
activities.
Policy and
administrative reform of NCS. The project
explored options for institutionally reforming NCS to transform it into an
autonomous, self-financing body. A senior level round table was organized
in 2005 to discuss the future status of NCS, and a senior IUCN consultant,
Dr. G. Child, prepared a report titled - “Suggestions to Strengthen Policy
and Institutional Development in Nature Conservation in Egypt”, which gives
a comparative review of the state of parks from 2000 and 2006 and presents
a road map for NCS reform. The project was also instrumental in developing
the basis for a new GEF project to strengthen Egypt’s protected area system
through institutional reform, building on and extending the NCSCB project
outputs.
 Management
Effectiveness Evaluation of Egypt’s
system of Protected Areas. The project
carried out a system level assessment of the management status and
effectiveness of Egypt’s
network of PAs. This is the first time that Egypt’s network of PAs
has been evaluated for management effectiveness in a systematic and
consistent manner, and this evaluation, carried out with the support of an
IUCN consultant (D. Paleczny), is one of the first to be conducted in the
Arab World or the Middle East. The
evaluation approach followed a modified version of the RAPPAM methodology.
As part of the assessment, a workshop for 78 Protected Area managers and
other NCS staff was held in January 2006, in coordination with the BioMAP project.
Site level
Management Effectiveness Evaluation of selected Protected Areas. The results of the system level assessment of
management effectiveness confirmed the need to conduct more in-depth site
level assessments. With the support of an IUCN consultant (D.
Paleczny) the project initiated therefore the individual site-level assessment
of the management effectiveness of a selected set of protected areas: Wadi
Rayan and St. Katherine Protectorates (which both have management plans),
and Ras Mohamed and Lake Qaroun
(which currently lack management plans). The management effectiveness
evaluations have been conducted through a series of participatory workshops
that engage local communities and other stakeholders as well as the NCS
staff. Specific reports are being prepared for each PA, and are expected to
provide the basis for the review or preparation of Management plans for the
protected areas considered.
 Training Needs
Assessment. A senior international
consultant from IUCN (M. Cipparone) completed, in
association with NCS counterpart staff, a comprehensive Training Need
Assessment (TNA) for the staff of the NCS. The TNA was based on visits to 5
PAs, the analysis of TNA questionnaires
distributed to NCS staff members and a SWOT analysis of the Training Centre
in Sharm.
Review of EIA
Guidelines and procedures. Procedures
for EIA and licensing of economic activities within PA have been developed,
and the Technical Unit reviewed a large number of EIAs.
New guidelines have been developed for EIA procedures for underwater construction.
Development of
management plans for PAs. With technical and financial support from the
project, the NCS Planning Unit finalised draft management plans for various
PAs, including Taba,
Wadi Digla, Petrified Forest. The project also
supported the adoption of a participatory approach for preparing the
management plan for the White Desert Protected Area, and organized a
workshop in Farafra to initiate the planning
process and to discuss with stakeholders options for collaborative
management.
Co-management
agreement for the White
Desert. Stemming from the participatory approach adopted
for the development of the Management Plan, a simple bilateral agreement,
between the NCS/EEAA and the two local NGOs, for the co-management of the White
Desert National Park
has been drafted for discussion and negotiation with the various actors and
stakeholders.
 White Desert Operator training and certification. In association with two local NGOs the project
helped arrange 2 consecutive 4-day workshops for 108 operators in the White
Desert, held in 2006 in Bahariya. The purpose of these
courses were to ensure that the operators are properly orientated to
sustainable tourism practices that also deliver high quality experiences to
their clients. The courses were designed as part of a local certification
process for White
Desert operators
thereby ensuring that the operators attained a required standard. The
Training Course was supported through a grant from IUCN Netherlands to “El Hayah”, a Farafra
NGO. Courses covered aspects of desert conservation, biodiversity, geology,
cultures of oasis peoples, history of desert exploration, Global
Positioning Systems, First Aid and safety measures etc.
 Declaration and
management of the Gilf Kebir/Gebal
Uweinat National Park. A proposal document for the declaration of the Gilf
Kebir/Gebal Uweinat
complex as a new protected area was drafted by the NCS Planning Technical
Unit. The proposal was submitted to the Government of Egypt and the Gilf Kebir Protected Area was
formally declared as Egypt’s
newest protected area on January 4th by Prime Ministerial decree
No. 10/2007. The decree has formally created one of
the world’s largest protected areas, extending over approx. 48,000 km2
of the Western
Desert. It is hoped that the Gilf
Kebir protected area will eventually constitute
part of a larger trans-boundary protected area shared with Libya and Sudan. This new protected area
has been identified as a candidate for a trans-boundary World Heritage
Cultural Landscape.
In early 2007 the project organized a 20 days interdisciplinary
expedition to the Gilf Kebir
and Gebal Uweinat, to
examine the conservation issues of the area, to evaluate options for
introducing conservations measures and to initiate the drafting of a
Management Plan. Specialists in various fields took part in the expedition,
which involved various other organizations, such as the Supreme Council
of Antiquities and the
Heinrich Barth
Institute (Germany).
Outreach and
Branding Programme. With support from a senior international consultant from IUCN (V.
Harper), the Outreach and Marketing Technical Unit developed a plan for the
effective “branding” and projection of the NCS image and profile. The input
will also contribute to raising the profile of Egypt’s
protected areas and elevating the general awareness of their role, value
and importance to Egypt.
Under this intervention communication materials have been designed and
produced including an information pack, a web site dedicated to protected
areas and standard format leaflets that will be printed for each protected
area. The project produced and published
1500 copies of an illustrated report titled “Protected Areas of Egypt –
Towards the Future” which was launched on World Environment Day 2006.
 NCS Financial
analysis and PA Business plans. A
Business Plan format for Protected Areas has been developed and is being
tested. With technical support from an IUCN international consultant (J.
Galindo), the Outreach and Marketing Technical Unit carried out financial
analysis and business planning for selected protected areas, such as Wadi
Rayan and Ras Mohamed, and for NCS. A workshop on
business planning for Protected Areas, involving more than 40 PA managers
and NCS staff, was also held in Cairo
in June 2007.
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