Projects & Local Actors

Projects:
. Project For the Conservation of Wetland and Coastal Ecosystems in the Mediterranean Region
In October 1999, a five-year regional project entitled "Project for the Conservation of Wetlands and Coastal Ecosystems in the Mediterranean Region MedWetCoast" was launched. The project is funded and implemented by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs (MSEA) and the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA). The project is implemented in Albania, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority and Tunisia. One of the main protectorates of the project in Egypt is Burullus Protected Area.

Local Actors:

• Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs

  The Nature Conservation Sector (NCS) of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) has the ultimate legal responsibility for the proper management of the Protected Area and its resources.

• Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate

  The Governorate is the single most influential stakeholder at the local level. It has its own Environment Office, Local Administration Councils and Investment Council. The latter institution plays an important role in the approval and allocation of land for development projects.

• Ministry of Agriculture

  The local branch of the General Authority for the Development of Fisheries Resources (GADFR), Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for the management of the Lake's fisheries. It also issues permits for the establishment of fish farms in the vicinity of the Protectorate. The Ministry of Agriculture determines the distribution and area of rice cultivation in the Nile Delta, and fines farmers violating the instructions by exceeding the limits of areas allowed for this crop. Consequently, this Ministry controls to a large extent the amount of drainage water flowing into Lake Burullus

• Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources

  This Ministry is responsible for water resource management and the maintenance of all water dams in the country. It is also concerned with the volume of water in the Lake, as it is responsible for protecting the Delta against likely sea water intrusion

• Ministry of Defense

  The Coast Guard, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, is responsible for security and controls all illegal smuggling activities along the coast (the northern border-strip of the Lake).

• Ministry of Interior

  The Water and Environment Police enforces fisheries and environmental regulations, such as restrictions concerning hunting, fishing and quail netting within the protectorate. As yet, there are two police stations on the Lake shores and the third is currently under construction.

• Ministry of Housing and New Communities

  This Ministry has constructed an international coastal highway between Sallum (on the border with Libya) and Raffah (on the border with Palestine), which traverses the protectorate from east to west. Part of the highway is a bridge over the Bughaz and the rest cuts through the entire length of the sand bar. This highway is rapidly attracting new populations and settlements to the area. The environmental impacts of the increasing human activities on either side of this highway, are yet to be properly assessed.

• Ministry of Health

  The 'Directorate of Public Health' in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate is responsible for health issues affecting the local inhabitants in the Burullus Protected Area.

• Non-Governmental Organizations

  A number of non-governmental organizations in the Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate also play a key role, affecting land and resource use in the area. Four of these are mainly concerned with local community development and a further seven are fishermen's associations. A recent addition to the list of local "pressure groups" is the 'Charity Association for Environmental Protection'. Fishermen working immediately outside Lake Burullus in the Mediterranean Sea are organized in three NGOs.