10 reasons why Egypt declares Kharga 1st green city

CAIRO – 8 June 2022: Egyptian Ministry of Environment recently announced the city of Kharga as the first green city, due to a number of factors that qualified the city to be environmentally-friendly.

Kharga Oasis is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km to the west of the Nile valley. Kharga is the most modernised of Egypt's western oases. The main town is highly functional with all modern facilities, and virtually nothing left of old architecture.

Minister of Environment Yasmin Fouad announced that fisheries will be established on 1.5 feddans in Kharga in order to produce 50 tons of tilapia and mullet fish per season. That is in addition to introducing five lakes with a capacity of 125 tons. 

A factory also has been launched to recycle agriculture waste, turning it into fertilizers and cattle feed. 

In the below lines, et monitors these factors on the basis of which the city of Kharga was declared the first environmentally friendly city in Egypt:

1- The absence of any sources of industrial pollution because there are no factories other than plants for dates packaging.

 2- The average per capita share of green space has risen to 9.5 palm trees per person, 520 m 2 field crops per person, and 18 m 2 productive trees per person, and the per capita share of land is 500 m 2 per person.

3- The city depends on new and renewable energy sources, including solar energy and natural gas, which save energy. Renewable energy powers government agencies, street lighting, places of worship, is also used in extracting water from irrigation wells and homes.

4- Noise rates in the city throughout the day do not exceed the permissible limits in the executive regulations of thr Environment Law No. 4 of 1994.

5- Kharga city contains all sewage and treatment services.

6- There is encouragement of sustainable agricultural activities and environmental products in the city of Kharga, such as mushrooms and silk.

7- The city seeks to get rid of the use of single-use plastic bags.

8- There are air quality monitoring stations affiliated to the Directorate of Health Affairs; modern laboratories for water quality monitoring, affiliated with the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, and noise monitoring devices affiliated with the Department of Environmental Affairs in the governorate. Their results comply with the permissible limits mentioned in environmental laws and legislation.

9- The city is an ideal model for eco-tourism and has its ingredients in terms of hotels and facilities, infrastructure, quality of the environment and distinctive natural resources.

10- There are lanes and spaces designated for bicycles, in addition to its encouraging for mass transportation.