Grapevine

Egypt’s Environment Minister reviews updates of ‘Safe Haven’ project in Fayoum

Egypt’s Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, held a meeting with Princess Alia bint Al Hussein of Jordan and Ahmed Al Ansari, Governor of Fayoum, via video conference to review the latest developments in environmental investment in nature reserves and prepare for the implementation of the “Safe Haven” project in Fayoum.

The meeting discussed the latest amendments that have been added to the project in recent months, in terms of the volume of water consumption required for the project, the environmental impact assessment study, and its vegetation cover plan, in addition to the feasibility study and financial model for the project.

The project coordinators explained that the master plan includes the water needs of the artificial lakes that will be implemented, the needs of agriculture and regular uses, the number of trees that will be planted in the project, especially in the first three years, how to reduce water consumption, and the possibility of using agricultural drainage water for any future expansions, including the first phase plan on an area of one thousand hectares, including the infrastructure and sites of animals, whether predatory or herbivorous while benefiting from the Jordanian experience in this field.

During the meeting, the Minister of Environment stressed Egypt’s keenness to implement this project, which began more than a year ago, which achieves a new type of biodiversity conservation in Egypt, social solidarity, and new job opportunities for the local community. It also provides a different type of ecotourism, so the “Safe Haven” is an integrated project that serves the goals of the Egyptian state in protecting endangered animals.

Fouad explained that the project was the first step in supporting Egyptian-Jordanian cooperation in environmental investment and nature protection. It comes within the tireless efforts to promote all promising investment opportunities in Fayoum.