By Mahmoud Bakr WHAT happens when a bid for a cleaner environment hits the shores of the Red Sea and the remoter parts of Sinai? Dozens of Arab and Muslim young people and a handful of Italian engineers came to Egypt recently to make the shores greener and the desert less thirsty, Mahmoud Bakr joined them. It all started when young people from the Arab and Islamic countries took part in a project to plant mangroves on the coasts of the Red Sea, some venturing further inland to help with much-needed forestation, in a project organised by the Arab Union for Youth and Environment (AUYE). Some 120 participants from 18 Arab and Islamic countries gathered in Hurghada for the project held in cooperation with the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), the Arab Union for Voluntary Work, the Egyptian ministry of the environment, and the Red Sea governorate. The event was sponsored by Prince Turki bin Nasser, who heads the executive office of the Arab Environment Ministers Council, and it was endorsed by Amr Moussa, secretary- general of the Arab League. AUYE chairman Magdi Allam said that the project was intended to give Arab and Islamic young people the opportunity to participate in a worldwide campaign to plant one billion trees and also to be part of a programme aiming to plant mangrove trees and protect the coastal environment. The project aims to promote cultural exchange and expertise among young people from various Arab and Islamic countries and to encourage them to participate in voluntary work. "Participants in the project discussed issues related to the environment and reviewed the experience of Arab countries in the field of voluntary work," Allam said. ISESCO representative Mustafa Eid spoke to the participants about the role of the organisation in promoting the Jeddah Declaration concerning sustainable development. Sayed Khalifa, an adviser to the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, also made a presentation about the one-billion-tree campaign. AUYE secretary-general Mamdouh Rashwan said that the young people participating in the project had planted a forest in Hurghada and had added trees to the mangrove area in Safaga. A sightseeing tour was arranged for participating delegations in the Red Sea governorate.
