SUITMA 2005 Cairo - Contributions to land resource assessment and development of landmine-affected and de-mined areas, Northwest coast, Egypt
SUITMA 2005 Cairo
| This abstract is about one of the papers of the Consumed mining and military areas theme of the SUITMA 2005 symposium. |
| Fawzi Abdel-Kader,i | Rafaat K. Yacoub.ii |
- i - Soil and Water Science Department, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
Landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) dating from World War II affect 250,000 hectare of the Northwest Coast of Egypt mainly in the El-Alamein -Qattara and Sidi-Barani areas. It hindered and stopped significantly the regional agricultural, industrial and tourist developmental programs of Matrouh governorate. The Government of Egypt established the National Committee for the Northwest Coast Development and De-Mining Programs aiming to propose and implement regional developmental programs for the Northwest Coast and its desert back areas up to 2025. There is no resources database in a geo-reference and digital form for the landmine-affected and de-mined areas at the northwest coast of Egypt that insure the implementation of sustainable integrated developmental programs. Local inhabitants are reluctant for managing and developing of de-mined areas.
The general aim of this study is to assess the natural resources of the landmine-affected zones of Egypt at Matrouh Governorate by integrating RS, GIS and modeling methodologies to support the National Committee for the Northwest Coast Development and De-Mining Programs in Egypt in the context of the National Information System for Mine Action (IMSMA). The expected outputs include the following :
- A complete review of mine detection and de-mining technologies.
- An integrated database for landmine-affected and de-mined Areas, Northwest Coast, Egypt.
- Digital geo reference maps for topography, geomorphology, hydrology, land cover and human recourses.
- Land suitability and land use maps (field crops, trees, range )
- Developmental agricultural/industrial/tourism programs.
- Training and building trust programs.
Beneficiaries of the project include local organizations and inhabitants, Matrouh Governorate, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Reconstruction, and Ministry of Tourisms.
