Ministry of Environment Removes 14 Tons of Waste from Red Sea Port

Summertime has finally come around to Egypt, and though the lockdown has just been lifted, it’s impossible not to notice the effect that social distancing has had on the environment. We’ve all seen the pictures and memes about how wildlife and nature flourished with the absence of human activity, but one less talked-about benefit of this lockdown is a renewed public interest in preserving natural resources. And in a country like ours that relies so heavily on tourism, it’s important to see how catering to tourists shouldn’t get in the way of environmentalism - in fact, these two goals should go hand-in-hand. Who wants to dive in the Red Sea without the Red Sea coral reef?

The tourist sector of the Ministry of Environment - with help from dozens of Egypt's best divers and the Civil Society - have successfully removed 14 tons of waste from the Red Sea port as part of their government initiative ‘Ethadar lel-Akhdar’, which is dedicated to protecting biodiversity across the coastal region. Glass, metal, wood and other substances that were removed during the first four days of the initiative have been relocated to a sanitary landfill, and there are no signs of stopping as they're set to continue for another seven days into the beginning of July.

This comes ahead of Egypt's plans to resume tourist activities on July 1st, although these activities will be restricted to South Sinai, Marsa Matrouh and the Red Sea Governorate.