The Ministry of Environment participated in the Port Said International Festival for Observing and Photographing Birds in its first edition, which was held in Ashtoum El-Gamil Reserve and Lake Manzala. Within the framework of the directives of Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, to support and promote ecotourism.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad explained that the festival aims to promote ecotourism in Port Said Governorate, especially the tourism of observing, watching and photographing birds as one of the types of global ecotourism, which is very popular with nature lovers and photographers at the level of Egypt and the world, as Egypt is the second most important path for bird migration in the world.
The Minister of Environment added that the Port Said International Bird Observing and Photographing Festival will be held from December 21 to 25, as filming activities were held in Ashtoum El-Gamil Reserve and Lake Manzala on Friday, December 23, with the participation of 200 students who are amateurs of bird watching and photography.
The Minister of Environment affirmed that the issue of protecting migratory birds and biodiversity is one of the global and regional environmental challenges, which Egypt was keen to address during the climate conference “Cop 27” as one of the issues that reflects the extent of interdependence in achieving a balance between environmental agreements represented in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the implementation of the plan. The country’s national contributions to addressing the effects of climate change and reducing emissions, as discussed during the conference’s biodiversity day, which included a discussion of the effects of climate change on biodiversity and methods of protecting it at the international level.
The Minister of Environment stressed that Egypt’s dealings with the issue of protecting migratory birds were not only at the official or governmental level, but expanded to include all partners from civil and local society, tourism companies, youth and others.
She pointed out that the ministry organized many trainings to introduce and involve all parties in protecting the environment, including organizing special trainings for graduates in the field of monitoring and controlling migratory birds, as well as training workers in the tourism field and companies, and even extended to including the bird-watching point in Sharm El-Sheikh as one of the tourist attractions that companies place within it. its tourism programmes.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, referred to the Egyptian experience in protecting migratory soaring birds in one of the most important migration paths in Egypt, which was represented in a number of axes, namely energy, by taking all closure measures upon request, training and building national cadres, as well as preparing and building an integrated waste system to protect birds. In addition to that, work is being done to promote the preservation of birds and build a culture of bird watching as one of the environmental tourism programs and to create a tourism product based on watching migratory birds in the Red Sea.
The Minister of Environment expressed her happiness and appreciation for the efforts of all partners to support environmental protection and ecotourism to participate in the protection of biodiversity and natural resources, especially as we seek to open new tourism horizons for bird watching in Ashtoum Reserve in Port Said Governorate.
It is worth noting that Lake Manzala and Ashtoum Al-Gamil Reserve have more than 200 species of resident or migratory birds recorded in them. The lakes of northern Egypt and the Nile River are considered one of the largest and most important wetlands in North Africa, as they represent 25% of the wetlands in the Mediterranean basin, given that waterfowl Migrants find the necessary food, safety and comfort in these lands.
