By:
Amr Ali Managing Director HEPCA
The
Red Sea is famous for its natural resources, in
particular its coral reefs. This has led to an
ever increasing growth in tourism, especially
diving tourism, which is an important part of
the economy in the area. However, the growth of
tourism has detrimentally affected the natural
environment mainly due to the fact that the local
community and visitors to the area are lacking
in environmental awareness.
In an unprecedented incident, HEPCA (Hurghada
Environmental Protection and Conservation Association)
has a managed to sign a three year contract with
the private sector represented by the Coca Cola
Company. According to this agreement the Coca
Cola Company and HEPCA will adopt and implement
a 3 year environmental campaign.
This
years campaign was under the title of “Protecting
The Red Sea Corals”, the objectives include;
-
Beach clean up.
- School campaign to increase the environmental
awareness of the school kids.
- The installation of 200 moorings in Hurghada
and 60 in Sharm.
- Under water clean up.
- Garbage bins with environmental message in Sharm
& Giftun Island.
The
whole concept of signing a three year contract
was to guarantee the sustainability of this project.
Also joining forces to assure the full success
of this project and its sustainability are PADI
International and its project AWARE, the Red Sea
Association for Diving and Watersports, the South
Sinai Association for Diving and Marine Activities
(SSDM), the National Parks of Egypt and the USAID.
The
huge environmental campaign was launched first
in Sharm El Sheikh on the 26th, 27th and the 28th
of February and in Hurghada on 1st, 2nd and 3rd
of March. This project aims are to protect and
enhance the environment of the Red Sea through
increasing environmental awareness among certain
target groups by providing environmental awareness
seminars and activities, in particular by providing
boat captains with an alternative to anchoring
on the coral reefs by providing reef mooring lines
and training in their use. Also, by a huge environmental
awareness campaign that targeted 300 school kids
in Sharm and Hurghada.
A
beach clean up for the National Park of Ras Mohamed
was organised with the kids from Nabq School and
the Saint Joseph School. More than one hundred
children participated actively and received a
recognition certificate from HEPCA, SSDM and PROJECT
AWARE. The same activity took place in Hurghada
and the target was the beach of Magawish. Island,
more than 160 school children and 6 boats participated
in this campaign. Also, a huge under water clean
up took place in Hurghada and Sharm. This campaign
involved alot of diving centres and their guests
with more than 120 boats in both Sharm and Hurghada
participating in this event.
The main component of this campaign was the mooring
installation. An urgent interference was required
in Sharm by the diving community, the SSDM and
the National Park of Ras Mohamed. HEPCA managed
to install 60 moorings between Tiran and Ras Mohammed.
HEPCA also managed to install and replace 200
moorings in the Hurghada area.
About the partners in this project;
The
Coca-Cola Company has long supported innovative
efforts to keep the world clean and beautiful.
Helping to keep the Red Sea bottom free of litter
continues Coca Cola's environmental interventions
that support communities around the world: Recycling
in Italy, planting a forest in Lebanon, awareness
about marine resources in Saudi Arabia and educational
centres in U.S. National Parks.
HEPCA
is a recognized NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation)
established during 1992 by members of the Hurghada
Diving Society and officially registered with
the Red Sea, Egypt during 1995. HEPCA's mandate
is the protection and conservation of the Red
Sea environment. With the support of its members
the Association achieves its aim of preserving
the natural resources and environment of the Red
Sea through active participation in various environmental
projects and campaigns to encourage sustainable
management of tourism and local industry. The
most important result of these efforts has been
the installation of the largest and most comprehensive
reef mooring system anywhere in the world, which
is currently covering the area from Taba in the
North of the Red Sea to the borders of Sudan.
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