Use of the Potential of the Available Resources in …...Hany El Kateb, Institute of Silviculture, TUM 1 Use of the Potential of the Available Resources in Egypt for sustainable development

Hany El Kateb, Institute of Silviculture, TUM 1

Use of the Potential of the Available Resources in Egypt for sustainable

development

Hany El Kateb* Institute of Silviculture

Technische Universität München (TUM)[email protected]

*Member of the Presidential Advisory Council of Scientists and Experts – Egypt


AgendaChallenges the world facing today and resource management

Current resource management in Egypt: Land use as an example

Sustainable cities and green buildings in desert lands of Egypt

Afforestation in arid regions and in desert lands of Egypt


Challenges the world facing todayand resource management


What do we need for our survival?

World population in 2014: 7.3 109

World population in 2050: 9.1 109

Energy

Food Shelter

Fresh WaterFresh air


Energy?

Climate Change Indicators in the United States: Global Greenhouse Gas Emissionswww.epa.gov/climatechange/indicators - Updated May 2014

Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Sector, 1990-2010


Major problems facing the world today• Climate change and global warming (global CO2 emissions totalled 34 billion tons in 2011 (JRC/EC

2012), 50% above those in 1990) • Deterioration and exploitation of the natural resources • Air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination, soil erosion and degradation of arable land, forest,

and coastland• Habitat destruction (destruction in the rain forest to melting glaciers in the Arctic)• Global biodiversity declines (the rate of species loss is greater now than at any time in human history)• Natural resource scarcity and energy, food and water shortages• Frequent nature catastrophes• Uncontrolled disposal of urban and rural waste

• Increasing population, urban expansion, rural-urban migration• Poverty (925 million people are undernourished, FAO 2010)• Water and sanitation crisis (nearly 900 million people do not have access to clean drinking water, 2.5

billion lack access to safe sanitation facilities, UN 2010)• High unemployment rates among young adults• Wars• Ignorance, racism and discrimination• Corruption, increasing crimes• Pandemics and health care

• Crooked distribution of the world wealth and resources• Failed bankers advising failed regulators on how to save failed assets (Paul Hawken, 2009) • Speculation on food prices• Short-term planning • Improper management in a fast changing world


The richest 85 persons in the world own as much wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion(Credit Suisse, op. cit.).

The global wealth pyramid (Global Wealth Report 2013, Credit Suisse (modified))

Distribution of wealth in the world

Wealth or household net worth = financial assets + non-financial assets (principally housing owned by individuals) – debts

68,7%

22,9%7,7%

0,7%

3,0%

13,7%

42,3%

41,0%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

World adult population (4,666 million)

World wealth (240.8 trillion)

Wealth range (USD)>1,000,000>100,000 - <1,000,000>10,000 - <100,000<10,000


Use of resources in the worldGlobal resource use including fossil fuels, metals, wood,

minerals and others

80%

20%

20%

80%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

World population Resource use

Richer countries Poorer countries


Some simple facts about Resources- Human beings are resource dependent, but most of our

resources are finite and non-renewable. - Earth resources are not equally distributed around the world.- Many of the resources, such as minerals, develop very slowly

throughout hundreds of millions of years. - If resources are not used in a sustainable way they will be

depleted, leaving future generations barren and empty handed.

- Every person has the right to an equal share of Earth's limited ecological capacity. And those who consume beyond their fair share accumulate an ecological debt to those who don’t.

- At present, human beings are inappropriately managing their resources by achieving a short-term benefit while causing pollution and degradation to the environment.


Either or?

“At present we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the future or take the assets ofthe future. One is called restoration and the other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people and cause untold suffering.”Paul Hawken (2009), University of Portland


How can we combat our problems?

• Knowledge, practical knowledge • Expertise and proficiency• Ability to communicate the vision

• Innovative approaches • Proper techniques to development

- By utilising the appropriate knowledge and technology currently available to us, we can solve many of the problems the world is facing today through the proper use, and use of potential, of the available resources in a sustainable way.

- By Brains, many brains


Resource-based development

- enhancing the public awareness of the importance of the natural resources for the survival of the present and future generations, as well as the awareness of disasters that ensue following the misuse of resources leading to thirst, hunger, poverty and natural catastrophes,

- strict saving in the use of resources as it is the first measure to proper resource utilisation,

- rational utilisation of the natural resources including reuse and recycling,- finding the best alternative measures to reach sustainability in resource

utilisation,- establishment of policies and programmes for the rehabilitation, conservation

and, whenever necessary, preservation of the natural resources, - integration of sustainable management systems of the resources into the law, - further development of effective mechanisms for regulation, control and

monitoring of resource utilisation” (El Kateb, 2012).

“The political, economic, and social development must be closely associated with the sustainable management of available resources and should be based on:


Sustainable Resource Management

Sustainable Resource

Management

Human

Technical Financial

NaturalTechno-logical

Nature show us the best examples for the sustainable resource management. Nature manages itself in a sustainable way in diverse ecosystems.An ecosystem is almost self-sufficient and self-regulatory and is characterised by high stability in terms of resistance and resilience.Nature follows a strategy based on retaining the quality of the physical environment and the biodiversity of the flora and fauna, while maintaining the production by managing the energy, water, and nutrient cycles.We should study and understand Nature. Having the appropriate knowledge and technology, we can imitate Nature, solving many of our man-made problems.


Self-sufficiencySelf-regulatory

Sustainability

Physical Environment

Self-produced resources

Diversity

ProducersConsumers

Waste Decomposers

Maintaining production by sustainable

management of water,

nutrient and energy cycles

High stability: High ResistanceHigh Resilience

Management of Resources in an Ecosystem, simplifiedThrough photosynthesis and take up inorganic nutrients, biomass is produced by the producers [plant community] under a specific physical environment [climate, soil, topography, water supply], providing food for consumers [herbivores, their predators]. Organic nutrients is generated by mortality [producers and consumers], while inorganic nutrients by mineralisation [decomposers (microbes (bacteria, fungi), microfauna, mesofauna, macrofauna) and consumers].


Current resource management in Egypt:Land use as an example


Greatest challenges facing Egypt Aside from health, education, poverty and corruption, Egypt is facing many challenges.

Arid/desert climateWater scarcity Misuse of the limited fertile land to secure food for the

increasing populationHigh susceptibility to climate change: Egypt is ranked 3rd

in rising sea levels after all low-lying Island States and Vietnam (World Bank, 2009)

Absence of innovative, environmentally-friendly solutionsMismanagement of resources


Satellite image of Egypt

www.maplibrary.org

Arable land 3.6%

Des

ert l

and

Total land area 1 million km2

www.maplibrary.org

Climate: Mediterranean in north (hot-dry summer 27°, and a warm winter 15°), and continental in south (40° in summer and 13° in winter)

Annual average precipitation: 10 mm (150-200 in north and 2 mm in south) Humidity: High in the north with 70% during summer, and low in the south with 13%.


The Nile and Nile Delta


The pyramids:100 years ago and todaywww.moheet.comwww.moheet.com


The Nile delta on the outskirts of Cairo (continued)

Land cover 1972 Land cover 2011

400 km2

UrbanVegetationDesertRiver

197232%42%24%2%

201161%21%16%2%


The Nile delta todayAccording to the Executive Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Egypt lost 9% of its arable lands to constructions over the past 36 years. The country is ranked first in the rate of desertification with a loss rate of 3.5 acres per hour (35 ha or 50 soccer fields daily) of fertile Delta agricultural land, which is an incomparable rate in the world statistics.


Resources with high potential in Egyptaq

uariu

mpr

osm

n.co

m/2

011/

02/a

quar

ium

-ene

rgy-

use/

Lee Bruno venturebeat.com

Solar power plant

Desalination plant

Land use

Well-planned, Environmentally friendly, and attractively designed green citieswith charming architecture. The Cities include all serves and facilities that make daily life easy and enjoyable for each individual. Industrial or agro-industrial zones are established in the cities’ outskirts.

Farming including: agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and aquaculture. While freshwater is used in agriculture, wastewater is used for forest and bio-fuel production.


Sustainable cities and green buildings in desert lands of Egypt


The new cities must be well-planed, attractive, have charming architecture and should be designed to maximise the use of the available physical environment and at the same time minimise the use of supplementary energy and promote the use of renewable energy.

The cities should conserve the resources instead of wasting them and they should be producing instead of only consuming.

The cities should include all services and facilities that make daily life easy and enjoyable for each individual.

The population living in a city should be below the carrying capacity that is maximum number of individuals that a land area can satisfy their food, shelter, social requirements and movement in a short time, even without using vehicles.

New sustainable cities and green buildingsin desert lands


Egypt today


Egypt tomorrow


City centreShopping zone including restaurants, coffee shops, etc.Governmental facilities, Offices, medical practice, lawyer’s offices, etc.

Housing area including small shops for daily shopping

Agriculture areaHospitals, schools, Universities, theatres, stadiums, leisure facilities

Buildings panorama

Schematic layout of a new city in desert lands of Egypt. It includes different use zones allow walking or using bicycles, electrical vehicles from one zone to another.


Protection of cities and agriculture areas by a series of windbreaks of living trees of a distance of around 140 m, with a width of one row or three rows (8 m in width) of trees.

The diagram shows a systemic layout for a full protection. However, only one leg-windbreak can be established in the right angles to the prevailing wind direction. A well-designed windbreak can be planned according to the prevailing environment in each specific location.

Windbreak

Protection of the new cities by windbreak/shelter belts


Examples of buildings panorama

City

cen

treC

ity c

entre

City

cen

treC

ity c

entre


Distances between buildings

24,5

m

24,5m21

,0m

17,5

m

14,0

m

10,5

m

7,0m

3,5m

21,0m 17,5m 14,0m 10,5m 10,5m


2 Million inhabitants

1 Million inhabitants

0.5 Million inhabitants

An example of distribution:

Combination of large cities with small-sized cities showing the networks of main roads


An example of extension of the cities


Network of main roads and railways between the cities

Roads

Railways


Size of sustainable cities in Egypt

0,25 m

r=11.8km

0,5 m

r=14.0km

1,0 m

r=12.4km

2,0 m

r=17.5km

3,0 m

r=21.4km

City: r=7.6km, 2%

City: r=6.2km 16%

City: r=4.4km 10%

City: r=3.1km 12%

City: r=2.2km 60%

City areaBuildings: 1/3 Infrastructure: 1/3Green area: 1/3


Afforestation in arid regions


What is Afforestation?Afforestation is the planting of trees on lands formerly used for purposes other than forestry. It is a cost-effective tool to reduce emission. Planting large areas of new forests is effective to slow the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide.


Arid lands and subtropical deserts- Arid lands cover an area of nearly one third of the earth's

land surface, where over one third of the world's population lives.

- The largest two subtropical deserts are the Sahara (9.1 million km2) in Northern Africa and the Arabian Desert (2.3 million km2) in the Arabian Peninsula.

- Subtropical deserts offer plenty of unutilised lands.- Subtropical deserts are characterised by low annual

precipitation, but on the other hand, they provide possibilitiesfor trees to grow all-year round and they receive sufficient sunlight, which is essential for the plant growth. Up to a certain extent, the more sunlight available for a plant, the higher the photosynthetic ability and thus the tree production.


Arid lands and water- Insufficiency of water in many of the arid regions is a serious

constraint for human welfare and economic development.- Wherever people live, wastewater is generated form

municipal, industrial and agricultural activities. - Unutilised wastewater represents serious hazards for the

human health and environment and in addition is a waste of valuable water resources.

- Wastewater from municipal activities or sewage water can be preliminary treated and then used in providing the required water to irrigate trees. In addition, sewage water has high content of the primary plant nutrients "nitrogen" and "phosphorus", which are also essential for tree growth. Furthermore, sludge or solid waste remains after the wastewater treatment can be used for the production of renewable energy (e.g., Biogas) and soil conditioner.


Afforestation in desert lands of Egypt


Egypt


Desert lands in Egypt


Forestry in EgyptEgypt has almost no natural forests. We can find:

Relic of nature woodlands on the slopes of Gebel Elba (Mountain Elba) in the Elba Protected Area in the southern of the country, the largest protected area in Egypt (over 36,000 km2). www.cultnat.orgwww.cultnat.org

Sparse, scattered mangroves along the red sea coast.


Forestry in Egypt (continued)

Many excavations in various parts of the country support the opinion that large parts of ancient Egypt at both Nile banks were forest zones.Also the Sinai Peninsula with its many valleys was rich in forest. The names of the valleys are still good indication.



At the end of the first millennium, over a thousand years ago during the Fatimids era, Egypt was the first country in the world, which established a national forest organisation (Goldmann, 2001). Usage of wood was well managed. Wood was mainly used for the construction of cargo ships. Thousands of ships of a size of about 85m long and 35m abeam were built.

Today, far less than 0.1% (around 720 km2) of the country’s land area is covered with trees.

discoverislamicart.org



A few indigenous species occur over the country. These include: sycamore, Acacia (was extensively used in ship building), tamarisk, Carob (was used in making furniture and luxury items), popular, mulberry-trees and above all date-palms as well as various fruit trees.

Forestry in Egypt is mainly based on plantation forests with the most common species being: Casuarina spp. and Eucalyptus spp.


Egyptian National Programme for Afforestation In the mid 90s, the “National Programme for the Safe Use

of Treated Sewage Water for Afforestation*” was launched to mainly improve the prevailing environmental situation by

- making use of unutilised sewage water, which is a hazard for the human health and environment and in addition a waste of water resource and nutrients, in

- establishing forest plantations “greening desert lands” to support the efforts exerted to stabilise the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

Within the frame of this programme, a pilot project on over 4,000 hectares spread over the country was conducted to determine the success/failure of afforestation using basic-treated sewage water.


National Programme for Afforestation (continued)

Locations of Locations of afforestation using afforestation using

sewage watersewage water

Planted species within the pilot project Acacia (Acacia nilotica and Acacia

saligna)

Casuarina (Casuarina equisetifolia)

Cupressus (Cupressus sempervirens)

Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis)

African Mahogany (Khaya senegalensis)

Neem (Azadirachta indica)

Pinus (Pinus pinea)

Popular (Populus spp.)

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) and Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) as biofuel crop

Sisal (agava sisalana) and ornamental trees


National Programme for Afforestation (continued)


Current Situation of the Man-Made-Forest in EgyptDegradation of the forest plantations

Ismailia: Aug. 2010 & Aug. 2011

Luxor: 2007 & 2009


Current Situation of the Man-Made-Forest in EgyptDecrease in the afforested area

Afforestation in 2013 in Sadat City: loss of over 40%

Jatropha in 2012 in Luxor: loss of over 55%


Current Situation of the Man-Made-Forest in EgyptMismanagement


Egyptian-GermanCollaboration

Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs

National Programme for the Safe Use of Treated Sewage Water for Afforestation

administration, coordination, infrastructure, sewage water analysis

Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Alexandria

(silviculture research)Agriculture Research Centre, Ministry of

Agriculture and Land Reclamation(soil research, forest tree breeding)

Department of Agricultural Engineering, Ain Shams University

(water research, irrigation)

Institute of Silviculture, Technische Universität München (TUM)

(silviculture research, forest tree breeding)Institute of Hydraulic and Water Resources

Engineering, TUM(water research)

Forest Finance Groupforest carbon trade, sponsoring, commercial

application

Bavarian State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

knowledge transfer, exchange of experts

Institute of Water Quality Control,TUM

(wastewater research)

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)supports enhancement of education and

research in Egypt


Multi-functionality of the afforestation in Egypt Decreasing pollution as growing trees absorb carbon dioxide from the

atmosphere. Protection against desertification, sand dune fixation, erosion prevention,

and coastal protection. Efficient use of the scarce water resources. Wood production and biofuel-crop production, as a renewable energy

source. Human settlement protection from wind and sand encroachment. Food security for an increasing population through combating desertification

and protection of arable and new reclaimed lands from wind. Afforestation in desert lands can be employed to protect cultivated areas (e.g., for food production). This leads to considerable reduction in environmental stresses (reducing plant damage by frost, sand deposit and insects, improving the efficiency of irrigation and fertilisation, conserve moisture in plants and soil) and improvement of the microclimate, thus, achieving higher yield of the protected crops.

Creating new jobs and qualification opportunities. Establishing new forest-based and related industries, which will help in

promoting employment and national economic development. Offering recreational opportunities in arid regions.


•

Accompanying Scientific Studies - Scientific Approach

Applied Research

Data and statistical analyses, and simulation modelling

Management Science

Application of management science

Assessment

Selection of species, use of high-quality seed materials,establishing windbreak systems,

initiating tree breeding programme

Development of a decision support

system for the sustainable

management of plantation forests in

arid regions

Identifying for each species under different environmental conditions the

most appropriate:irrigation system,

level of water requirement,soil improvement technique

(mycorrhiza and soil conditioner)

Identifying the most effective silvicultural technique for each

species under different environmental conditions, according to the desired

objective of the afforestation

Assessment of sewage waterImprovement of treatment, quality and

transportation of wastewater

Assessment of plantation forests established at the pilot

project phaseEvaluation of the status of the

afforstation for deriving appropriate silviculture techniques

Collecting further ecological, and socio-economical

information


Accompanying Scientific Studies - List of species Acacia (Acacia nilotica and Acacia saligna), shrub (windbreak) Casuarina (Casuarina equisetifolia), shrub (windbreak) Jatropha (Jatropha curcas), shrub (biofuel crop) Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), shrub (biofuel crop) Indian beech (Pongamia Pinnata), tree (biodiesel) Gmeline or White Teak (Gmelina arborea), precious hardwood African Mahogany (Khaya senegalensis), precious hardwood Outeniqua yellowwood (Podocarpus falcatus), precious hardwood Teak (Tectona grandis), precious hardwood Mangium or Black Wattle (Acacia mangium), hardwood Neem, also Indian Lilac (Azadirachta indica), hardwood Lemon-scented gum (Corymbia citriodora), hardwood River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), hardwood Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis C. Smith), softwood Caribean Pine (Pinus caribbea var. hondurensis), softwood


Treatment and use of potential of wastewaterFiltration,

sedimentation

Filtration, sedimentation

Filtration, sedimentation

Dom

estic

Indu

stria

lA

gric

ultu

ral

Non-conven-

tionalenergy

Trans-esteri-ficationreactor

* aerobic, anaerobic and algae-based treatment** membrane filtration

Biological treatment

Biological treatment &removal of heavy metal and

chemical residues using agricultural waste by-products

Biological* treatment &heavy metal removal and recovery

using mechanical** treatment and/or agricultural waste by-products

An-aerobic digester

BiogasBio-diesel

Heavy metal

Treated waste-water

Treated waste-water

Fertiliser

Reuse in agriculture

Use in afforestation

Algal biomass

Sludge


Potential of the afforestation in Egypt

Jatropha curcas, 13 months

Gmelina arborea, 6 months

Corymbia citriodora, 13 months

Tectona grandis, 6 months


Kha

yase

nega

lens

isC

orym

bia

citri

odor

aE

ucal

yptu

sca

mal

dule

nsis

1.5 years10cm, 10m

4 years19cm, 20m

8 years24cm, 22m

12 years30cm, 24m

4 years19cm, 15m

9 years30cm, 21m

12 years30cm, 20m

4 years23cm, 11m

7 years26cm, 14m

9 years28cm, 13m

Sada

t City

(civ

il an

d in

dust

rial w

aste

wat

er)

Ism

ailia

(civ

il w

aste

wat

er)

Potential of the afforestation in Egypt (continued)


Potential of the afforestation in Egypt (continued)

30 t/ha/year50 t/ha/year51 t/ha/yearAnnual CO2sequestration

333 m3/ha346 m3/ha348 m3/haTotal volume*15 years 12 years 11 years Rotation period

Khayasenegalensis

Eucalyptus camaldulensis

Corymbiacitriodora

Estimated yield (El Kateb and Mosandl, 2012)

*Compared to Germany, the leading country in Forestry in Europe, this volume in average for all tree species is achieved after 60 years. This means that the same yield in Egypt is attained 4.5 times earlier than in Germany.

134 Forestry-relevant tree-species that are growingin only 2 parks in Cairo were found.


Opportunity for large scale afforestation in Egypt

- sewage water (about 7 billion m3 annually, of whichapproximately 40% is only treated) and

- desert lands of nearly one million km2.

Resources

Using 5.5 billion m3 sewage water for the afforestation and assuming an average annual water requirement of 8,500 m3/ha

- 650 thousand ha in the desert lands can be afforested(nearly 20% of the total agriculture area) and

- 25 million tons of CO2 annually can be stored.

Potential

Large-scale afforestation may stimulate cloud formation and may result in rainfall (University of Hohenheim 2012) that the country urgently needs.


Large-scale afforestation

We assume that the average annual water-consumptionfor forest lands in Egypt = 8.500 m3 ha-1

Current annual volume of sewage water (7 109 m3) andindustrial wastewater (2 109 m3) in Egypt = 9 109 m3

If 5.5 109 m3

is used for afforestation, we can, theoretically, afforest an area of a size of 5.5 109 m3/8.500 m3 ha-1 ≈ 0.65 106 ha = 6.500 km2

and annually store CO2 of ≈ 25 106 tons

Expected volume of sewage water in 2017 = 17.0 109 m3

Using this volume, we can afforest an area of a size of17.0 109 m3/8.500 m3 ha-1 ≈ 2.0 106 ha = 20.000 km2

and annually store CO2 of ≈ 77 106 tons


A scenario for large-scale afforestation

Arable land 3.6%Forestland 2.0%

Coast = 50 km x 20 kmTotal area = 1000 km2 x 5 = 5,000 km2

Width = 10 kmTotal length = 1,500 kmTotal area = 15,000 km2

Des

ert l

and


Approach to establishment of large-scale plantation forests in the desert lands of EgyptMaking optimal use of the potential available in the wastewater

and in plantation forests. Development of sustainable forestry in desert lands by

improving productivity, quality, technology, cost-effectiveness, and economic returns of the plantation forests.

Development of sustainable management for the wastewater resources.

Building of forest administration liable to implement the forestry policy, to provide guidelines for forest management, to approve and to control the implementation of forest management plans.

Capacity building of trainers and technical staff.Enhancing education and research related to wastewater and

forest management.Conducting interdisciplinary researches to accompany the

afforestation activities and develop decision support systems.


Scheme for the large-scale afforestationYear: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Phase IPlan issuing, and working

group forming

Forest PlantationsSpecies selection,

afforestation of 26 ha, and breeding on

47 ha

Capacity building in sustainable management of plantation forests

Forest Plantations

Phase IIPreparation

workAfforestation

of 92 ha

Phase III Preparation work

Appropriate irrigation sys-tem, irrigation water quantity,

and soil conditioner

Research findings

Proper early and mid-rotation silvicultural techniques

Appropriate quantity of irrigation

water, and soil conditioner


water


water

Decision support system for the

sustain-able man-agementof forests

in arid regions

Large–scale afforestation

Dem

onstrations (educational and

training units)

Building up the forest administration


Thank you for your kind attention

Documents

Use of the Potential of the Available Resources in …...Hany El Kateb, Institute of Silviculture, TUM 1 Use of the Potential of the Available Resources in Egypt for sustainable development