Egypt’s Kharga declared Arab Environment Capital for 2022

CAIRO - 20 October 2022:  The Egyptian city of Kharga, in the New Valley Governorate, was named the Arab Environmental Capital for 2022, said Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad in a statement on Thursday.

 

 

It was declared during the 32nd session of the Technical Secretariat of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for Environmental Affairs, which is affiliated with the Arab League, the Minister said.

 

 

Winning this title came due to tremendous efforts exerted by the local residents of the city, NGOs and Major General Mohamed Salman Al-Zamlot, Governor of the New Valley in integrating environmental protection and climate change issues, said the Minister, as the city had been previsouly announced as the first eco-friendly city in Egypt in June 2022.

 

 

Kharga was chosen to be environment-friendly because it has no factories, except for those of date packaging, and because it depends on solar power and natural gas for energy. Further, the share per capita in green areas is 500 square meters.  

 

 

Over the past three years, the ministry, in cooperation with the New Valley municipal authority, planted 7,000 trees on Al Kharga Airport road extending 11 kilometers. That is in addition to introducing a plantation spanning over five feddans (one feddan equals 4,500 square meters) to produce 30,000 seedlings that will be installed across the governorate.

 

 

The ministry also provided the governorate with 5,000 olive trees and will deliver another 5,000 soon. Further, the minister and the governor attended the event of planting 1,000 trees along the fences of the New Valley University.

 

 

The governorate's municipal authority had introduced a bike lane stretching 6.3 kilometers at a cost of LE10 million and has been working on the automation and digitalization of services.

 

 

The minister visited an under-progress agricultural project that is meant to be the largest in the governorate. The project located at Al Tahan Oasis lies on 180 feddans, and is planned to consist of 100 greenhouses that will produce vegetables and fruits. Fifty of those have been put in place until the present.

 

 

Moreover, a palm tree farm is being set up on 90 feddans to encompass 18,000 seedlings by the end of 2022. Seven thousand palm trees have already been planted. The farm will have 18 fridges to preserve dates, as the capacity of each is 2,500 tons.  

 

 

Fisheries will be established on 1.5 feddans in order to produce 50 tons of tilapia and mullet fish per season. That is in addition to introducing five lakes with a capacity of 125 tons. The other ongoing projects include an animal production farm, a horse riding school, and silk production laboratories.

 

 

A factory has been launched to recycle agricultural waste, turning it into fertilizers and cattle feed. What's more, an initiative has been launched to cultivate the rooftops of public buildings, like schools, with herbs among others.