‘A very successful story’: An Egypt tribe welcomes tourists & protects its coast

AL QULA’AN, Egypt — In the south of Egypt’s Wadi El Gemal protected area, where the desert meets the Red Sea, lies Al-Qula’an, a small village standing on white sand with mangroves in the backdrop.

The “eco-village” is free of the hectic activity that characterizes tourist haunts, like Marsa Alam, a resort town about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Al-Qula’an, along Egypt’s Red Sea coast. There are no paved roads or concrete buildings here, only a few wooden huts, a little restaurant and a bunch of signs asking visitors to please protect the mangroves.

An aggressive push by the Egyptian government to develop tourism facilities across the country, including inside protected areas, has revived a debate about whether tourism is compatible with Egypt’s laws on environmental protection. Environmentalists launched a campaign earlier this year to prevent a private investor from developing Ras Hankorab beach, another ecologically important site inside the Wadi El Gemal protected area.

Al Qula’an has become an example for some conservationists of how tourism development can align with environmental management. The area is home to around two dozen families from the Ababda. The Ababda, a group of traditionally nomadic tribal people, have lived in the desert area between the Nile River and the Red Sea for centuries.

The Ababda in Al-Qula’an are no longer nomadic, having settled in an area by the sea where they make a living by fishing and, for several years now, tourism.

“[The mangroves] have been here ever since — when my grandfather was born, he found them there,” Abu Nessma, an elder from the community dressed in a white thawb, an ankle-length traditional dress, with a scarf tied around his head, told Mongabay. He is responsible for the site that hosts several groups of tourists daily who make their way here from hotels outside the protected area. It lies off the beaten path, around 400 km (250 mi) south of the popular tourist town of Hurghada and 400 km east of the historical city of Aswan.

Abu Nessma described traditional knowledge passed down through generations, illuminating their ties to the land and sea.

In the desert, shepherds graze their animals in an area with plants, then leave and return only after three months, giving vegetation time to recover. They know that if their goats and sheep overgraze an area, there will be less foliage the next time it rains. The same principle applies to the sea.

“They didn’t change their relationship with nature until today. They keep it safe because they understand that their life is connected with nature,” Ali Sayed from the NGO Abu Ghosoun Community Development Association (AG-CDA), told Mongabay. Abu Ghosoun, named after a village inside Wadi El Gemal, works with communities in the protected area. “They know that if they overfish, one day they won’t find fish.”

The coastal ecosystem of the Wadi El Gemal protected area is known for its coral reefs, migratory birds and endangered marine wildlife, including dugongs (Dugong dugon), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas).

The mangrove forest of Wadi El Gemal serves as habitat for many juvenile fish and bird species, invertebrates and crustaceans. It is also a nesting site for the endangered hawksbill sea turtle. The mangrove forest is dominated by the grey mangrove (Avicennia marina). The trees grow above the water in an ancient lagoon, which is surrounded by a fringing coral reef.

Mangroves worldwide have received rising attention due to their central role in coastal ecosystems. They serve as homes for both resident and migratory birds and nursery grounds for marine species. They are also seen as key to curbing climate change. These trees store more carbon per unit area than terrestrial tropical forests.

However, like mangroves globally, the Red Sea’s forests are at risk. According to a 2021 study, coastal development, woodcutting for fuel and charcoal, camel grazing, plant diseases and irresponsible tourism are major risks for Egypt’s mangroves.

In the Ababda culture, cutting trees for charcoal is forbidden, and harvesting plants for food, fuel or medicine is limited to immediate needs.

“Every day at the end of the day, we collect any trash that is left over. We don’t like plastic here; it destroys everything,” Abu Nessma said, adding that it kills the fish. Fishermen often catch plastic in their nets, which, apart from being detrimental to marine life, damages their gear.

“If anyone doesn’t respect the environment or this place, we don’t allow them here,” he said. “If anyone misbehaves, they are kindly asked to leave.”

Tribal presence on the land is key in Al-Qula’an and integrated into the site’s development plan, Sayed explained. “Some tourists think the sea is a shopping mall — they see the corals and help themselves,” he said, referring to observations he has made over the years of tourists returning from snorkeling with large coral pieces they’ve broken off.

In the early 2000s, Al-Qula’an was selected by the Egyptian Tourism Authority as the model village for eco-tourism in the protected area to prepare it for tourism activity without altering natural features. In 2018, the village received a solar power plant and desalination plant, providing power and water to the community through a project spearheaded by the Red Sea Governorate.

“They converted this village from living under harsh conditions to an eco-village, improving housing and providing facilities for guests,” said Mahmoud Hanafy, head of science at the largest local conservation NGO, Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA). “Al-Qula’an is a very successful story.”

But the Ababda in Al Qula’an have not always had access to either reliable water supply or electricity. “According to them [the Ababda], it wasn’t difficult; they were living according to their traditions, in tents,” said Sayed, who is a member of the Ababda tribe but does not live a life steeped in tribal traditions.

With additional support from NGOs like HEPCA and Abu Ghosoun, Al-Qula’an transitioned from relying on fishing for livelihood to tourism, Hanafy said, which leads to a win-win situation for both the community and the sea life, which is suffering from overfishing.

Hanafy said the development at Al-Qula’an is in contrast with the development along the Red Sea coastline, which “is based on quantity rather than quality; we followed this model of very intensive development and we ended with what I call overuse of biodiversity.” At some sites, Hanafy said, divers exceed the carrying capacity of the reefs, causing damage to the corals and ecosystems.

Unlike Al-Qula’an, however, Ras Hankorab has no resident community to advocate for its protection. Although Al-Qula’an’s local people lack formal land titles, the site’s management is held up as an example of what community ownership can look like.

It is the only place in the region where local people live on land by the sea; other sites along the coast are no longer accessible to the traditionally nomadic people. The land inside Wadi Gemal is managed by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), and no settlements are allowed anywhere in the protected site. In other areas along the coast, tourism projects and other kinds of investments have hindered access.

At the eco-village, residents run a restaurant and a makeshift café for visitors. The restaurant, a simple affair with a few tables arranged under a tent, serves “whatever the fishermen come back with,” Abu Nessma said.

On the beach, visitors find a tent in which carpets and cushions are spread out to sit on. From here, they can enjoy a view of the mangroves, while waiting for a cup of tea with sage or a traditional coffee — a steaming black brew seasoned with ginger.

Tourists coming to Al-Qula’an do not disturb the residents in their homes but are encouraged to stop by a shop run from a tent that sells local handicrafts.

A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-backed program has helped train some of the Ababda in making and marketing their handicrafts.

Opportunities for community-based businesses are part of the Egyptian Red Sea Initiative, a $14.25 million project launched in 2024 by the UNDP and the Egyptian government. The project runs through 2030, according to Fatma Yassin, communications lead at UNDP Egypt. Through this initiative, she said, the aim is to reduce the pressure to develop large-scale, high-impact developments.

“Community participation turns tourism into a shared responsibility,” Yassin told Mongabay. Tourism management is in the community’s hands, amplifies local voices and defines how development takes place, including zoning and planning of highly sensitive areas like Al-Qula’an. “This approach transforms tourism from a potential threat into a driver of conservation and inclusive growth, ensuring that locals become long-term stewards of the Red Sea’s natural treasures.”

It is a role that the Ababda community members have embraced as theirs.

In Al-Qula’an, the community teaches children from an early age how to care for the environment. “This is how we live,” Abu Nessma said. “We teach our children here how to do things, because when they grow up, they need to know how to look after the mangroves.”

Banner image: Abu Nessma at the café by the sea. Image by Victoria Schneider/Mongabay.

Citation:

Afefe, A. (2021). Linking territorial and coastal planning: Conservation status and management of mangrove ecosystem at the Egyptian – African Red Sea coast. Aswan University Journal of Environmental Studies, 0(0), 0-0. doi:10.21608/aujes.2021.65951.1013

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Malavikavyawahare Editor

This story first appeared on Mongabay

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