egypt tagged posts

The Massive Mooring System That’s Saving Egypt’s Coral Reefs

The Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association has been protecting the Red Sea’s coral reefs from destructive anchors by installing the largest mooring system in the world.

When you sail a yacht and need to stop somewhere, you drop an anchor, right? Everyone knows that. But what everybody might not be aware of is the damage these anchors can do to the environment. The popularity of the Red Sea’s rich coral reefs can also lead to their destruction, with every drop of the anchor immediately killing whatever coral happened to be underneath it. There had to be another way – and the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) found it with the creation of the world’s largest mooring system.

Mooring is another way of basically parking your sh...

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Egypt launches a marine conservation campaign in the Egyptian Red Sea

On the occasion of,  World Environment Day (June 5th, 2021), the Ministers of Tourism and Antiquities and Environment launched a marine conservation campaign in the Egyptian Red Sea; the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as part of the ECO EGYPT campaign. 

This campaign is launched in partnership between the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) and the Ministry of Environment (MoE), with UNDP Egypt, GEF, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), the Egyptian Hotel Association (EHA), and Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS) our goal is to raise awareness about marine conservation in the Red Sea and highlight the importance of ecosystem protection and restoration. 

This campaign sheds light on the the most common touristic practices that wou...

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Egypt ranks no 2 as best world destination for diving in 2020

Egypt ranked the second best diving world destination in 2020, according to the British Dive Magazine. The magazine said Egypt once again garnered a large proportion of the vote. Egypt gained the same position in 2019.   

It is worth noting that Egypt has previously won a number of international awards and distinguished sites in the field of diving.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010 the shores of the Red Sea won the first place in polls in the English market in diving and marine activities. In 2015, Egypt ranked second.  

October 18, 2020, Reef International Foundation specialized in diving and protecting coral reefs has chosen the Red Sea in Egypt among the best global list of diving sites, and advised its followers to visit Egypt and enjoy a unique experience in the depths of the R...

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Reviving Egypt’s Marine Life With 3D Printed Coral Reefs

3D Coral Reef from Fabri Gate at Exhibition

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN), coral reefs house the world’s most biodiverse ecosystem and directly support more than 500 million people, the majority of whom are in developing countries. Naturally formed out of thin layers of calcium carbonate (limestone), coral reefs have sustained great damage over the past decades due to the effects of climate change—such as warming waters, ocean acidification, and deoxygenation, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the largest living thing on Earth, which has lost half of its colorful ecosystem and the life it once sustained to heat stress.

And since they are crucial to life on Earth, the destruction of coral reefs wouldn’t only wreak havoc on marine life and the ecosystems that depend on it, it wou...

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Protecting Egypt’s colourful coral reefs with Green Fins

Coal Reef with Scuba diver

Interview with Chloe Harvey, Director of The Reef-World Foundation, about how the charity’s implementation of the Green Fins initiative in Egypt—in partnership with the UN Environment Programme—is helping protect coral reefs in the Red Sea.

The Reef-World Foundationthe international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Green Fins initiativehas just announced the launch of Green Fins Egypt, the programme’s eleventh country worldwide, in partnership with the Chamber of Diving and Watersports. We spoke with Chloe Harvey about the launch of Green Fins Egypt and what this means for the protection of coral reefs in the region.

There is strong and growing demand for Green Fins around the world—why was Egypt chosen as the initiative’s latest destination?

Egypt...

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Northern Red Sea coral defiant against climate change

corals and sponges

As announced by the United Nations data on climate change, 30 percent of carbon dioxide produced by humans is absorbed by oceans, which endangers the maritime live. However, some maritime creatures of the northern Red Sea stand defiant against the increasing temperatures of oceans and seas. 

Unlike all kinds of coral reefs all over the world, coral reefs in the northern Red Sea stand defiant against ocean warming even if the sea water temperature increases by 6 °C in the summer, Professor of Marine Environment in the Faculty of Science at Al-Azhar University Eslam Osama told Egypt Today. 

“No coral bleaching was recorded in the northern Red Sea over the past three decades and that indicatesthat coral reefs in this area are less sensitive to high temperature,” said Osama, who conduc...

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Shark attack off Egyptian coast

A Czech tourist was killed in a shark attack in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, the country’s Ministry of Environment said on Sunday. The 41-year-old man was found dead on a beach in the resort city of Marsa Alam on Friday after being attacked by a shark, City Board Chariman Atef Wagdy said.

“A delegation from the environment ministry and another delegation from the natural reserve of the red sea are currently investigating the incident and trying to locate the shark in the Red Sea,” he said.

The shark is believed to have attacked the man in parts of the sea beyond the coral reef, where Wagdy said people are vulnerable to attack.

The marina, which extends into the coral reefs, has been closed off to beachgoers, Wagdy said.

He added the beach wasn’t evacuated, but beach guards were clo...

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Marsa Shagra, Marsa Alam, Egypt

marsa shagra turtle

Morning Dive, Sunny and calm, sight wind from the north. Entry 10:06am. Seagrass in good condition and from grass finned to reef wall. Coral in good condition. Glimpsed Dugong but in distance – amazing. No sharks, no turtles, no spiny sea urchins. Nice blue spotted ray.

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Coral reef in Sharm El-Sheikh at risk: Activists

Activists in Egypt

Residents of Hadaba in South Sinai’s Sharm El-Sheikh stood in front of cranes, bulldozers, and backhoes on 30 April, blocking them from resuming what they claim is the destruction of reefs on the Red Sea coastline. The cliff – which runs from Sharm El-Sheikh’s Aida and continues intermittently along the coastline until the Grand Azure Resort – is subject to collapse due to the discovery of cracks in nine sections of the cliff, activists say.

They allege that the governorate hired the Arab Contractors, an Egyptian construction and contracting company, to restore the cliff – but without public consultation or prior notification.

The community which gathered between 28-30 April to obstruct the construction say that the debris falling from heavy machinery will destroy the cliff’s re...

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Emperor Dive Centre

emperor divers

Marsa Alam is a great location for both learners and experienced divers, with a range of trips from shallow wrecks and bays to overnight Elphinstone. Learn to dive or take your diving further with our friendly, experienced team of guides.

Emperor Divers offers the most convenient service available in the Marsa Alam area. We operate dive centres in the Concorde Moreen BeachResta Reef and Resta Grand Hotels and our fleet of day boats are moored right on the jetty of the Marina Lodge hotel in Port Ghalib.

The table below shows the diving type, the location, the hotel and transfer times between each. Of course, you can stay at other hotels in the resort and we’ll provide you with a free transfer at set times.

Click here for transfer details.

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