Slow-Tech: Manifesto for an Over-Wound World by Andrew Price

Author:Andrew Price [Price, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Current Events
ISBN: 9780857891617
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Published: 2008-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

The Southern Sinai experience

On a small-scale map, Southern Sinai is a V-shaped piece of land forming, near enough, an equilateral triangle. The Gulf of Suez defines its western margin, the Gulf of Aqaba the eastern, while the lower apex tumbles abruptly over the reef crest into the Red Sea. The triangle’s upper side merges with Northern Sinai. This continues northwards to the Mediterranean, where the Nile discharges what remains of its waters, sediment and life-promoting nutrients, following the high-risk bypass operation brought about by the Aswan Dam.

In reality, of course, Sinai is far greater than a geometric shape or grains of sand. Holiday brochures vividly portray what is on offer, and prospective travellers are lured by a land like no other: an exotic blend of Middle Eastern desert and the deep blue waters of the Red Sea. And if that is not enough, Southern Sinai is parcelled up into linked marine and terrestrial Protectorates. As the chapter reveals, though, the benefits extend far beyond the obvious role of conservation. Sinai is not actually a country at all; formerly Israeli, and the nearby Tiran Islands once the realm of Saudi Arabia, it is now Egyptian territory, and a national asset cherished by many as greatly as Tutankhamun and other bejewelled treasures.

It would be expecting too much for the coral reefs to be all yours, though the experience certainly is. Because of attractive holiday packages, some choice spots are nowadays subjected to more than 100,000 dives annually. It might seem like sardine-packing, and in a sense it is. But education and diving regulations to minimize damage and protect coral reef robustness are taken seriously. In heavily dived spots, for instance, it is ‘drift dives’ only; the boat simply tracks the divers, without need to anchor and damage the corals below, though many spots now have fixed moorings to prevent such disturbance.

Despite undeniable mass tourism, and very heavy demands placed on some reefs, the system seems to be holding up – remaining robust – that is, reef health, visitor numbers and the value of tourism investments. This happy circumstance has prevailed through a combination of ambitious plans and visionary thinking on the part of the Southern Sinai Protectorates Development Programme.

While prosperity and well-being have always been paramount in the Egyptian government’s eyes, so too has conservation. The Protectorates are testament to this, covering a land and sea area of close on 10,000 square kilometres: this has made, in effect, Egypt’s entire Gulf of Aqaba coast into a single, large protected area.

Unsually, though, it has been conservation for and by tourism development. Realizing that strict environmental regulation actually enhances the tourism product and, at the same, increases the value of their investments, many developers have turned a brighter shade of green. Put another way, they see the wisdom of ‘robustness of ecosystems’ not as a stricture, but to benefit ‘efficiency of industry and development’. Through a vested interest in conservation the developers have, in effect, taken over several activities normally done by marine biologists

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.