View
222
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
8/8/2019 Newsletter New Valley Ecoturism n.1
1/8
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 ...
Page 8
Six-monthly newslet ter Issue n.1 - July 2010
Temple of Hibis, el-Kharga
8/8/2019 Newsletter New Valley Ecoturism n.1
2/8
C I S S N E W S L E T T E R
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?
8/8/2019 Newsletter New Valley Ecoturism n.1
3/8
C I S S N E W S L E T T E R
Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development in the New Valley Governorate 3
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.
8/8/2019 Newsletter New Valley Ecoturism n.1
4/8
C I S S N E W S L E T T E R
4 Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development in the New Valley Governorate
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
8/8/2019 Newsletter New Valley Ecoturism n.1
5/8
C I S S N E W S L E T T E R
Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development in the New Valley Governorate 5
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.
8/8/2019 Newsletter New Valley Ecoturism n.1
6/8
C I S S N E W S L E T T E R
6 Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development in the New Valley Governorate
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.
8/8/2019 Newsletter New Valley Ecoturism n.1
7/8
C I S S N E W S L E T T E R
Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development in the New Valley Governorate 7
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
8/8/2019 Newsletter New Valley Ecoturism n.1
8/8
C I S S N E W S L E T T E R
8 Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development in the New Valley Governorate
CAIROof)ice
4,AyshaelTaimoriaSt.,apt.9GardenCity-Cairo-EgyptTel/Fax:(+202)27950026egypt@cissong.orgwww.cissong.org
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
Recommended