A new educational environmental travel project, “Dayma,” offers a creative and alternative gateway to discovering and embracing Egypt’s natural beauty. Dayma, which means everlasting, enduring and sustainable in Arabic, perfectly describes what the project aims to encourage. Dayma’s founders are Sara al-Sayed and Betty Khoury, two biologists with previous work experience in environmental education. They embarked…
Omar Samra, the first Egyptian to climb Mount Everest in 2007, is one step away from achieving his “7 Summits Challenge” of climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents. Last January Samra successfully climbed the sixth of these seven peaks by reaching the top of Mount Vinson Massif in Antarctica. In 2008,…
The leading slogan of Egypt’s revolution has been “Bread, Freedom and Human Dignity,” reflecting the deterioration of Egyptians’ quality of life throughout Mubarak’s thirty-year reign. Consequently, an array of human rights issues have featured among the demands made since the beginning of the 25 January revolution. One such issue has been securing environmental rights. The…
Egypt is currently gripped by campaign frenzy as candidates prepare for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Not only is there a staggering number of new political parties, but also issues that had previously been overlooked are finally being addressed by electoral campaigns. For the first time, environmental issues are featured in several candidates’ platforms. If these…
It would be difficult to negate the view that our planet is facing an increasing amount of environmental problems. Environmentalists strive to highlight the fact that ongoing efforts seeking to address these wide-ranging problems still fall short in attaining a harmonious and healthy relationship with our environment. Increasing levels of pollution in all its forms…
Food safety is a multi-layered problem involving an array of issues, whether environmental, health or economic in nature. What seems to distinguish it, in Egypt at least, is the fact that it is yet to receive the attention required to address it effectively, bearing in mind the magnitude and seriousness of the issues at hand.…
Al-Masry Al-Youm met with Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt, as part of our Green Profile series, in which prominent figures discuss pressing environmental issues. Al-Masry Al-Youm: How important is the environment within the Islamic doctrine? And in what way does Islam’s doctrine highlight man’s responsibility towards the environment? Gomaa: In the Islamic worldview, acting as Allah’s…
Unfortunately, the environment has not been a priority for Egypt. Like in the case of many other developing countries, environmentally sound development is often depicted as being in tension with economic profit. In the Arab World, a region severely affected by growing environmental problems, an average of less than 1 percent of countries’ national budgets…
The yearly environmental event Earth Hour — which began in 2007 — will be held today. For one hour, starting at 8.30 PM local time, people are asked to turn off all non-essential light and power. The intention is that people reflect, in the darkness, on our over-reliance on carbon fuel and the need for…
Online social media served as a pivotal tool throughout the 18 days of mass protests that led up to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, and has now become a space in which Egypt’s youth convene to discuss how to build the nation’s future. During the protests Tahrir Square in central Cairo was transformed into…
Hoda Baraka 