Egypt is not currently known for its forests. But that could be about to change, says Mahmoud Bakr Apart from the flat silted expanse of greenery along the River Nile, Egypt is not known for its green spaces. However, it seems that this was not always the case, since surviving documents from the Fatimid and Ayyubid periods suggest that the country once had special government departments taking care of forests in Assiut, Minya and Sohag in Upper Egypt as well as in Saqqara south of Giza. While the demise of Egypt's forests started in the Ayyubid period, with Qalioubiya, for example, losing nearly 9,500 trees due perhaps to an increased demand for timber during the European Crusades, with the help of modern science today's forestry specialists are hoping to restore the situation to what it once was and even to improve on it. Egypt today is in the midst of a quest to create forests on subfertile land using treated sewage water, and, according to Maged George, minister of state for environmental affairs, "this national programme for planting forests and watering them with sewage water would help to recycle sewage, reduce pollution, improve the environment and make money." With the new sewage treatment facilities being built across the country, Egypt today produces some 2.5 billion cubic metres of treated water annually, a figure that may go up to 4 billion cubic metres over the next few years, and much of this water could be used to create new forests on the edge of Egypt's expansive deserts. George said that his ministry, in cooperation with other government agencies, is currently selecting forest sites, updating the information that is available and planting trees on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, the ministry's plans are gathering wide support. According to parliamentarian Magdi Allam, a well-known environmental expert, the creation of forests is the cheapest way of combating greenhouse gases and protecting biological diversity, as well as of making money through the sale of forest products, such as timber and bio-fuels. Forests irrigated by treated sewage water could also help consolidate the country's reserves of underground water, Allam says, for tree roots, when combined with the surrounding soil, work as a natural filter that kills bacteria before the water seeps further into the earth and joins the underground reserves. The current programme of forest-planting began 12 years ago when the ministry decided to set aside 420,000 feddans of semi-desert land for forestation. Thus far, 30,000 of these have been planted, and Allam now wants to submit a law to parliament proposing the introduction of an annual allocation in the state budget for forestation and for the creation of a new national agency for forestation. "Egypt now has 32 forests covering 100-200 feddans each, the oldest in Luxor and the newest in Beni Sweif," says Mohamed Mustafa, director of the Central Administration for Forestation and Environment at the Ministry of Agriculture. "These forests not only produce wood and keep the air clean, but they also provide habitats for endangered species and create new jobs for local people." Some of the forests contain trees and other plants that can be used to produce valuable oils, such as the jojoba shrubs that produce the well-known oil used in cosmetics. Other trees, including the jatrova, bear fruit that can be used to produce bio-fuel, and Germany and Japan, among other nations, are presently assisting Egypt in its efforts to select the best trees and plants to grow in the new forests. According to Sayed Khalifa, an adviser to the forestry department, oil extracted from jatrova fruit could either be consumed locally or exported, this in a context where the production of bio-fuel worldwide is expected to reach some 40 million tonnes by 2010. With nearly 50 per cent of the weight of its fruit made up of viscous oil, the jatrova tree is expected to be at the forefront of efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. And the good news is that jatrova prosper in lands that are not fit for conventional agriculture. Currently, Egypt has 400 feddans planted with jatrova, and the area is likely to increase as experts determine the best locations for growing the trees. As well as creating large forested areas, the ministry is also engaged in a programme of planting cypress, pine and taxodium on waterways and on the sides of inter-city roads. It is also experimenting with new strains of camphor trees whose flowers are attractive to honey bees. Two new types of mulberry trees have recently been introduced to the country, and these may bring about a revival in silkworm farming, Mustafa says. To provide trees for the new forests and for the programme of roadside planting, the ministry now has 25 nurseries producing some 1.5 million saplings of salt-resistant trees annually, including certain varieties of pine. For Egypt, which now imports upwards of LE1 billion worth of timber per year, the potential economic returns of the plan are considerable. The use of treated sewage water to grow trees may also help control practices that the government is keen to clamp down upon. Khalifa, for example, warns of the tendency of some farmers to use untreated sewage water for their crops, a practice seen near the Saff Canal, and he calls on the authorities to replace these crops with non-fruit trees. According to Mamdouh Rashwan, secretary- general of the Arab Union for Youth and the Environment (AUYE), there is a need for young people to become more aware of environmental issues, and the AUYE is currently working to remedy this. Thus far, the AUYE has worked to sponsor a UN campaign to plant one billion trees worldwide, with Arab countries having succeeded in planting some eight million trees, with the sponsorship of Prince Turki bin Abdel-Aziz, chairman of the executive bureau of the Council of Arab Environment Ministers.
