Newsletter New Valley Ecoturism n.1

8/8/2019 Newsletter New Valley Ecoturism n.1

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C I S S N E W S L E T T E R

Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development in the New Valley Governorate 1

CISS is implementing a pilot project for the sustainabledevelopment of tourism in the New Valley Governorate.The project aims to enhance the capacities of localcommunities to benefit from the development of thetourism sector and to improve the attractiveness of the NewValleys Oasis. By promoting the inclusion of the NewValley among the main ecotourism routes at the nationaland international level, the project will contribute togenerate enduring and diversified benefits to farmers,

craftsmen and smallentrepreneurs engagedn the tourism sector.

Indeed, the proposedproject aims atp r o m o t i n g t h esustainable use ofnatural, economic andhuman resources amongocal communities. One

of the main goals of theproject will be topromote the target areaas a pole of interest givents huge potentials from

the environmental,

cultural, historic, artistic and handcraft points of view.

All this, however, should be achieved through itsvalorization and a more efficient organization andmanagement of resources. The selected approach is basedon the full involvement of local communities; the actionwill in fact: raise their awareness at the grass-root level,implement training and exchange activities aimed atenhancing human capacities and skills necessary for the

sustainable management of local resources.

P r o j e c t Location

New Valley GovernorateImplementing Agency

CISS - International Cooperation South SouthDuration

01/01/2010 to 30 June 2012FundEGP 3.705.030DonorItalian-Egyptian Debt Swap Programme

N E W V A L L E Y

E C O T O U R I S M

Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development in the New Valley

What is Eco-Tourism

Eco-Tourism hasbecome the fastest

growing segment ofthe tourism industryworldwide. Theheavyburdenof

repetitivemass

tourisminmany...

Page 2

Geography of the

New Valley

The New Valley

Governorate coversan area of about376,000 square Kmfrom the LibyanDesert to theNile

Page 3

Archaeological Sites

The Temple of Hibisand the Necropolis ofBagawat

Page 4 Desert Dunes

The valley or troughbetween dunes iscalled a slack ...

Page 5

Awareness Raising

Campaign

An awareness-raising

and informationcampaign on NewValley will be carriedout in the oases ofKharga, Dakhla andFarafra in October andNovember 2010

Page 6

Who We Are

CISS, the Italian-Egyptian Debt for

Development SwapProgramme ...

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Six-monthly newslet ter Issue n.1 - July 2010

Temple of Hibis, el-Kharga


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2 Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development in the New Valley Governorate

Eco-Tourism has become the fastestgrowing segment of thetourism industry

worldwide.Theheavyburdenofrepetitive

m as s t o ur i sm i n m a ny h o l i d ay

destinationsworldwide hasa devastating

effectonenvironment.Inmanyareas,the

prized attractions that once lured and

mesmerizedtravelersarebeing damaged,

destroyedandabandoned.

W hi l st t ra ve l er s w i ll n e ve r s t op

s ear ching fo r n ew, o ut-o f-the-way,

untouchedandadventurousdestinations

to visit, preventivemeasures have to betakentostopunnecessarydestructionof

acountry's naturaland culturalheritage.

Responsibilityrestsonthetravelers,tour

operators, host country and all tourism

serviceproviders to ensurethat tourism

has a positive benefit on a destination

anditsinhabitants.

Whatarethebenefitsofeco-tourism?

New niche markets in nature travel,

cultureandheritagetoursand adventure

trips are becoming popular around the

world.Too oftensuch tours arewronglypromoted under the eco-tourism label

a nd d o not re fle ct t he b as ic ' eco'

principles.

T h e ' E co -To u ri s m f or S u st a in a bl e

D ev el op me nt i n t he N ew Va ll eyGovernorate' project is financed by the

Italian Egyptian Debt Swap Programme

andimplementedbytheItalianNGOCISS

together with the New Valley Tourism

Office. The aim of the Project is to

develo p eco to ur is m in the Wester n

D es er t O as is b y p re se rv in g a nd

i n c r e a s i n g t h e v a l u e o f t h e

environmental and cultural heritage of

theOasis,whilepromotingtheareaasan

a t tr ac t iv e t ou r is m d e st i na t io n f o r

residentsandforeignvisitors.

SpeciKicObjective

Supporting the development of the eco-

tourism s ec to r and the s us tain ab le

management of natural, artistic and

cultural her itag e in the New Vall ey

Governorate.

BeneKiciaries

The Final BeneKiciaries will be about

5.000peoplelivingintheoasesofharga,

Dakhla and Farafra. The action will

dir ec tl y b en eKit 240 p eo pl e amo ng

teachers, craftsmen,small entrepreneurs,

farmers,civilservants and tourist guides

and their families, for a total of about

1.500people.

Result1At least 240 people (teachers, craftsmen,

small entrepreneurs, farmers, civil

servants andtour operators)livingin the

oases of harga, Dakhla and Farafra (at

least 50% of them are women) actively

participated in identifying an ecotourism

valorizationandpromotionprogramme.

Result2

New Valley's most important tourist

resources (with particular attention to

eco-tourismcircuits)havebeenmapped

and valorized; at least 2 interestingarchaeological sites of the New Valley

havebeenre-qualiKiedandvalorized.

Result3

AnintegratedplantopromoteNewValley

aseco-tourismdestinationhasbeen

elaboratedandimplemented.

What is Eco-Tourism?What is Being Done to Support the New Valley as Eco-Tourism Destination?


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The New Valley

TheNewValleyGovernoratecoversan

area of about 376,000 square m

(more than a third of the Egyptian

territory), from the Libyan Desert to

the Nile, and from the sandy dunes

dividing theoases of Siwa andBaharia

totheborderwithSudan.

There is environmental and historic-

cultural heritage in the area which is

uniqueintheworld,aswellasagreatvarietyof landscapes: fromthe desert

to the green plains, from the "White

Desert"tothe"BlackDesert",fromthe

"flourishing desert" to the "Crystal

Mountain", the hot springs - rich in

s ul ph at e a nd e xc el le nt t o t re at

d i ff er en t p a th o lo g ie s . T h e m a in

economic activities are agriculture,

drape man ufacturin g, handcrafts,

tourism andsafari trips in the middle

oftheSahara.

Mapping Touristic Resources

In May 2010 the project launched a

Service Tender to hire a consulting

company to start the mapping of the

New Valleys touristic resources. The

a w a r d e d c o m p a n y i s E D G -

EnvironmentalDesignGroup.EDG is an

environmental, tourism development,

planning, architectural and landscape

architectural consulting company based

in Cairo. EDG will provide a team of

national consultants to be employed in

charge ofmappingNew Valley's tourism

and ecotourism resources and spotting

interesting circuits and itineraries. The

national consultants will contribute to

draw u p the Map of New Valley' s

territorial resources, to spot interesting

eco to ur is m c ir cuits and to p ro vide

training for the projects staff. During

t h e f i r s t y ea r o f t he p ro j e c t 's

intervention, all potential resources(environmental, archaeological, ethno-

anthropologist, tourist-receptive and

human too) for eco-tourists existing in

the target areas will be mapped. This

will consent a further elaboration of a

s pe ci fi c m ar ke ti ng p la n a nd t he

elaborationofstrategiesfor tourism and

eco-tourism valorization.After the deep

mapping of New Valley's resources, all

t he i nf or ma ti on w il l c on st it ut e a n

electronic database available for New

Valley Tourism Authority operators,

n a t io n al a n d i n te r na t i on a l t o ur

o pe ra to rs a s we ll a s l oc al s ma ll

entrepreneurs who offer services to

visiting tourists. Thanks tothemapping

phase, it will therefore be possible to

drawup ecotourismroutes and propose

aresponsibleway oftravelingin natural

areas, thus preserving the environment

whilesustaining localpopulations'well-

b e i n g . D ur in g t he 2 n d y e a r o f

i nt er ve nt io n, t he t ea m o f e xp er ts

engagedininventoryingtheNewValley's

re so urc es w il l d eve lop a t l ea st 1 0

ecotourism itineraries that could offerr es po ns ib le t ou ri st s a p ac ka ge o f

variegatedandattractivechoices.


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TempleofHibis

Thetemple ofHibiswasonce part

of the ancient capital of harga

Oasis, known as Hebet, meaning

theplough,orHibitonpolis(cityof

the plough). It is situated in a

palm-grovewhereitdominatesthe

desertroadabout2kmnorthofEl-

hargaandisthelargestandbest-

preserved temple of its period in

the oasis. The earliest existing

parts of Hibis Temple date to the

reign ofthePersian rulerDariusI,

although it was probably begunduring the Dynasty XXVI reigns of

Psamtek II, Apries and Amasis II.

The temple was constructed from

local limestone blocksontheedge

o f a s ma ll s ac re d l ake a nd

dedicated to the Theban triad of

Amun-Re, Mut and hons. It was

decoratedbyDariusI,andpossibly

D ar iu s I I, w it h a dd it io ns by

Nectanebo II and the Ptolemies,

a nd a C hr is ti an c hu rc h wa sconstructedonthenorthernsideof

theporticoduring the4thcentury

AD.

NecropolisofBagawat

It's located about 3km from thecentre ofEl-hargaand1kmnorthof t he Tem pl e o f Hi bi s. Th ecemeteryconsistsofavastexpanseof domed mud brick mausoleumsand underground galleries datingback tothe 4th century AD, whichwere built over the site of anearlier Egyptian necropolis of pit-graves.As a burialgroundBagawatappears to have been in constantuseuntilthe11thcentury,althoughthemudbrickstructuresdateonlyu p t o t he 7t h c en tu ry. T hearchitecturalstyle of the263tombchapels varies from simple oner oo m s t r u c t ur e s t o f a mi l ymausoleums

Althoughmanyofthechapelswereundecorated and consisted simplyof a single chamber built over thetombshaft, some weremuch moreelaborate and contained plasteredwalls with painted biblical scenes

inastrange mixtureofstyleswhileothers have elements reminiscentof earlier Egyptian architecture.Two of the most outstanding andbest preserved of the decorated

c ha pe ls a re na me d C ha pe l ofExodus and 'Chapel of Peace'.Inside the Chapel of the Exodus,which is one of the earliest in thecemetery, theinteriorof the domei s d ec or at ed i n t wo b an dsillustrating scenes from the OldTestament; Adam and Eve, Mosesleading the Israelites through theSinaidesertintheExodus,Pharaohandhis armies, Noahs ark, Danielin the lions den, Jonah and thewhale and several other biblicalepisodes.

In the Chapel of Peace, similarthemesare depicted on the dome,including the Annunciation of theV ir gin M ar y a nd o ther s, e ac hidentiKied in Greek. The interiorwalls are also painted with manyByzantine frescoes of grape vines,peacocks, allegorical Kigures andinscriptions. The purpose of theChristian tomb chapels, like theirancientEgyptiancounterparts,wasforthereverenceofthedeceased.

When the Romans came toEgypt they increased theprosperity of the oasis by

creating new wells, cultivatingmany crops and building a

series of fortress settlementsfor protection of the caravan

routes


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SandDune

Inphysicalgeography,aduneisahillofsand built by aeolianprocesses. Dunes

occur in different forms and sizes,formed by interaction with the wind.Mostkindsof dunesare longer onthewindward s ide where the sand ispusheduptheduneandhavea shorter"slipface"intheleeofthewind.

Thevalleyortroughbetweendunesiscalledaslack.A"dunefield"isanareacovered by exten sive san d dun es.Large dune Kields are known as ergs.Dunehabitatsprovidenichesforhighlys p ec ia li z ed p la nt s a nd a ni m al s,

including numerous rare species andsomeendangeredspecies.

Due to widespread human populationexpansion, dunes face destructiont hr ou g h l a nd d ev el o pm e nt a ndr ec re at io na l u sa ge s, a s w el l a salterationtopreventtheencroachmentof sand onto inhabited areas. Somecountries have developed signiKicantprograms of dune protection throughtheuseofsanddunestabilization.

BarchanDune

InEgyptsanddunescover40percentof the Western Desert and the mostc om mo n d un e t yp e i s b ar ch an(crescent)dunes.Abarchanduneisan

arc-shaped sand ridge, comprisingwell-sorted sand. This type of dunep os se ss es t wo " ho rn s" t ha t f ac edownwind, with the slip face (thed ownwi nd s lo pe) at t he a ngl e o frepose of sand, or approximately 32degrees.Theupwindsideispackedbythe wind, and stands at about 15degrees. Simple barchan dunes maystretch from meters to a hundredmeters or so between the tips of thehorns.

When Sand Dunes gather in a largegroup covering maybe hundreds orthousands kilometers, they are called"Ghoroud"inEgyptianWesterndesert.GhardAbuelMaharikisafamousonethat appears on maps in a very thinstraightline (around5-10 kilometers)a nd h un dr ed s o f k il om et er s l on gparallel to Nile Valley west of Asyoutstarting east of Bahareya oasis andgoing south. "Ghoroud" isnotlikely tobe Arabic(none is called so in ArabiaorEasterndesert),it couldbe ancientEgyptian name of dunes (like 'wa7at'is), or maybe Berber too. Ghoroud isthe word used for dunes in EgyptianS ah ara . S an d d un es c an i mp ac t

h u m an s n e ga t iv e ly w h en t h eyencroach on human habitats. Sanddunesmoveviaafewdifferentmeans,all of them helped along by wind.

Dunes can move in different ways, inparticular by saltation, where sandparticles skip along the groundlike arockthrownacrossapondmightskipacrossthewater'ssurface.Whentheseskippin g particl es l an d, they mayknock into other particles and causethem to skip as well. With slightlystronger winds, particles collide inmid-air,causingsheetflow.In a major dust storm, dunes maymove tens of meters through suchsheet flows. As in the case of snow,sand avalanches, falling down thesteep slopes of the dunes - that faceawayfrom the winds - also move thed un es f or wa rd . S an d t hr ea te ns

buildings and crops in Africa, theMiddle East, and China. Drenchings and d un es w ith o il s to ps th eirmigration, but this approach is quited es tr uc ti ve t o t he d un es ' a ni ma lhabitatsandusesavaluableresource.Sand fences might also slow theirmovement to a crawl, but geologistsare still analyzing resul ts for theoptimum fence designs. Preventingsanddunesfromoverwhelmingtowns,villages, and agricultural areas has

bec ome a p rio ri ty for th e Uni tedNationsEnvironmentProgramme.


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Aw ar en es s R aising C ampa ig n o n Te rr itor ia l

ResourcesaddressedtoMultipleActors

An awareness-raising and information campaign on

New Valleys environmental, archaeological, ethno-

anthropological, tourism-receptive, social and human

resources will be carried out in the oases of Kharga,

DakhlaandFarafrainOctoberandNovember2010.

This campaign will have a double goal: 1) to make

strategically-selectedgroupsamonglocalcommunitiesawareoftheimportanceoftheexistingenvironmental,

h is tor ic a nd c ul tu ra l h eri ta ge a s a t ool f or

development;and2)tostartasharedprocessaimedat

identifyingthenaturalandculturalresourcesthathave

high valorisation potentials for eco-tourism. The

awareness-raising campaign will address 3 groups of

stakeholdersconsideredasexperienced spreader,so

as to guarantee the maximum impact possibleon the

local population through a domino effect. The

beneKiciaries will be selected on the basis of gender,

p er so na l i nt er es t i n t he p ro po se d a ct iv it i es ,

geographical distribution. During the meetings,

a de quate a wa re ne ss -r aising m ater ia ls w il l b e

distributed to the participants to make sure that the

informationconveyedbythesamecampaignisspread

to a wider population. In selecting participants,

p ar ti cu la r a tt en ti on w il l b e g ive n t o f em al e

participation, which is considered strategic to spread

the information conveyed during the campaign. At

least50%oftheparticipantswillbewomen.

Raising the awareness of 50 teachers from 10primaryandsecondaryschoolsexistingintheoases

ofharga,DakhlaandFarafra.Byinvolvingteachers

working in the whole existing schools in the

governorate,itwillbepossibletoraiseawarenessof

theoverallstudentpopulationofthe3oases(about

2.000childrenandadolescents).

Raising the awareness of local craftsmen andsmallentrepreneurs(60intotal)operatinginthe

tourismandrecreationalsectors.Themeetingswill

aim at getting in contact with the local productive

network and stimulating new economic initiatives

in the tourismsector, focusing in particular onthe

conservationoftraditionsandculturesaswellason

thepreservationoflocaleconomiccircuit

Raising the awareness of 45 farmers on ruraltourism valorisation. The experience of CISS has

demonstrated that rural productive activities can

not only be a main source of income, but also a

tourist attraction. It is therefore necessaryto raise

awareness of farmers (and respective families) onthe issues related to responsible tourism and

ecotourism so that external visitors access to the

areawillbefacilitated.


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By Airway

P.A.S - Petroleum Air Services operates two weekly flights from Cairo airport to El-Kharga airport at 8.00 AM on

Sundays and to Dakhla airport at 8:00 AM on Tuesdays. The same flights return to Cairo from New Valley at 16.00

PM on the same day.

By Train

The Egyptian National Railways offer a good service of night train to Assiut and Luxor. In the sleeping car the trip

is comfortable and the fares chip.

By Bus

Bus is the most vital means of transportation to and from the New Valley Governorate. So there are two operating

bus companies: "Upper Egypt Transportation Company" and "Herz Transportation Company". Both companies

provide new buses with air-condition, video show and comfortable seats.

By Taxis

There are many taxis and local cars shuttling around the clock. Taxis can be rented with drivers from any Egyptian

city and prices change according to the distance.

TOURISMOFFICES TELEPHONE

TourismMinistryofficeinEl-Kharga +20927921205

EgyptianTourismAffairsofficeinEl-Kharga +20927921206

RegionalTourismAffairsofficeinEl-Kharga +20927921611

TourismMinistryofficeinEl-Dakhla +20927821685

EgyptianTourismAffairsofficeinEl-Dakhla +20927821686

RegionalTourismAffairsofficeinEl-Dakhla +20927820407


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CAIROof)ice

4,AyshaelTaimoriaSt.,apt.9GardenCity-Cairo-EgyptTel/Fax:(+202)[email protected]

OASISOFKHARGAof)ice

3,GamalAbdelNasserSt.,apt.1Elharga,NewValley,EgyptTel/Fax:+(2092)7937388

CISS (International Cooperation South-South) is anItalian NGO established in 1985; since 1989 it isrecognized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

as qualiKied organism to promote and carry outprojectsof cooperation in developingcountriesand,since1988.

CISSmissionisto:i) Promote, support and share solidarityvalues andculture; ii) Promote peace tobuildafairsociety; iii)Focus on human beings and their relations tocontributeto the developmentandempowermentoflocal groups and societies; iv) Defend and promotehuman rights, Kighting against differences betweenNorthandSouth.

CISS has been working in Egypt since 1998. Itscommitmenthasfocused,sincethe beginning, ontheecotourism sector and related activities, especiallythe increasing in value and the marketing ofhandicraftsintheOasisofFayoum.

ITALIAN-EGYPTIAN DEBT for D E V E L O P M E N TS WA P ProgrammeThe "Eco-tourism for Sustainable Development in the New Valley Governorate" Project is fundedby the Italian-

EgyptianDebtSwapProgramme."DebtSwap"isshorthandforatransactioninwhichagovernmentororganization

inacreditorcountryretiresafractionofadevelopingcountry'sexternaldebt,inexchangeforacommitmentbythedebtor government to invest local currency in designated programs. Italy and Egypt signed the "Debt-for-

DevelopmentSwap" agreementwiththe aimof convertingdebt owedby theArabRepublicof Egypttothe Italian

RepublicintofinancialresourcestoimplementdevelopmentprojectsinEgypt.

The Italian-Egyptian approach

towards development cooperation is

entirely natural: it is the meeting-point

of two ancient civilizations, whose aim

is to achieve objectives which can

contribute towards the development of

our host country

I ta l i an -Egypt ianDebt for Deve lopment Swap Program

Techn ica l Support Un i t

1 0 8 1 , C o r n i c h e e l N i l , G a r d e n C i t y - C a i r o T e l / F a x : + 2 0 2 2 7 9 6 2 3 5 8 / 2 7 9 5 0 7 7 8

E - m a i l : d e b t s w a p . c a i r o @ e s t e r i . i t

ThecontentofthispublicationisthesoleresponsibilityoftheCISS anddoes notnecessarily relectthe views oftheItalianCooperation andof the Italian-EgyptianDebtforDevelopmentSwapProgram

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