Scouts of the World in Egypt is helping to protect World Heritage.
The Egyptian Federation for Scouts and Girl Guides has run 3 Scouts of the World Discoveries in 3 Environment protected areas. These discoveries was through 3 years (2008 – 2010) as part of the Egyptian trial for the Scouts of the World Programme.
The initiative came from a cooperation between the Sea Scouts in Cairo and Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) as main partners along with Cairo International Scout Centre and Faculty of Agriculture in Ain Shams University. In this regard, The Egyptian Federation for Scouts and Girl Guides accredited the Sea Scout Centre in Cairo (Hares) as the first Scouts of the World Base in Egypt.
The first Scout of the World Discovery took place at Wadi Al-Hitan, Whale Valley, in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. It contains invaluable fossil remains of the earliest, and now extinct, suborder of whales, Archaeoceti. These fossils represent one of the major stories of evolution: the emergence of the whale as an ocean-going mammal from a previous life as a land-based animal. This is the most important site in the world for the demonstration of this stage of evolution. The Discovery was going deep in the issue of protection of Environement and World Heritage. There were 18 Scouts and non-Scout participants.
The second Discovery took place in Ras Mohamed Protected Area. This protected Area is located in Sinai at the meeting point of the Gulf of Suez and Aqaba Gulf. 26 Scouts and Guides have the opportunity to live there and to learn from the environment rangers the importance of the place. Ras Mohamed Area is characterized by the coral shores existing in the depth of the water peripheral of Ras Mohamed and the extinctionable colored fish and Sea turtles as well as rare Sea Animals. The Area is also a habitat for many important birds and animals.
In the third Discovery, the issue that was explored was “Mangrove”. 24 Rovers from an agriculture study background had a chance to live in Wadi El Gemal Protected Area to discuss with environment rangers dealing with the field of Mangrove. The Protected Area encompasses the segment of the Red Sea coastal plain and mountains extending. The protected area includes marine and terrestrial components. Wadi El Gemal is the third largest wadi in the Eastern Desert draining into the Red Sea.
Each Discovery of the previously mentioned include three days of exploration of the topic, Study visits and skills workshops. The three days exploration developed a feeling of commitment towards the issue, a vision for continuing their volunteer Service and continuing Scout of the World in Egypt.
For more information about the sites you can visit whc.unesco.org orwww.eeaa.gov.eg
For more information about the Scouts of the World Award: Click here
Image 2: Maintenance session for the whale fossils in Wadi El-Hitan
Image 3: Discovering the marine life in Ras Mohamad
Image 4: Preparing to plant mangroves in Wadi El Gemal
