Egypt

Prehistoric Fossils under Threat

Money Versus History:
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/749/en7.htm
Protecting ancient heritage:
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/749/en8.htm

These two related links are not strictly Egyptology, so my apologies, but both are about the very ancient prehistory of Egypt, which is on the one hand under threat and at the same time going through moves to find protection. The focus here is still heritage protection - it is just the the heritage concerns predates the Pharaohs by millennia. To quote the first of these articles: "If one were to imagine that Lake Qaroun is a miniature Mediterranean, that Wadi Al-Rayan is a miniature Red Sea, and that Bahr Youssef is a miniature Nile, then Fayoum, the governorate located 90 kilometres southeast of Cairo, is conceivably a miniature Egypt. The locality is known to be rich in Roman and Greek ruins, but recently it has been hailed as a reserve of remarkable pre-historic findings. Fossils of 18 types of extinct mammals have been found in Gabal Qatrani, including baboons, four-horned rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses and mammoths. Skeletons of pre-historic birds have also been discovered in the area. But the area is under threat, says Hossam Kamel, director of the Fayoum protectorates. The threat comes from companies quarrying basalt from the fossil-rich area. Several local companies are using heavy equipment and explosives to extract basalt from a three-seven metre layer of stone that runs throughout the area. The extraction of basalt, Kamel says, is taking place at a large scale and some invaluable fossils may be lost forever in the process".

- Travel: Wadi Al-rayan And The Faiyum
Al Ahram Weekly (Amira El-Naqeeb) After a week full of work, a night out with friends on the weekend or chilling out in front of the tube won't do it for me. I decided to pack for a short and easy trip to Wadi Al-Rayan. Although Fayoum governorate...

- Valley Of The Whales - Wadi Al Hitan
Al Ahram Weekly (Mahmoud Bakr) In an event organised by the Ministry of Environment, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak inaugurated the Valley of the Whales Protected Area in Fayoum. The valley is part of the Wadi Al-Rayan Protected Area, 150km southeast of Cairo and...

- Wadi El Hitan
The Encyclopedia of Earth Wadi Al-Hitan (29° 15’ 13'' to 29° 23’ 56''N by 30° 00’ 41'' to 30° 10’ 06 E) is a World Heritage Site in the Western Desert 150 kilometers (km) southwest of Cairo and 80 km west of Faiyum...

- Wadi El-hitan
http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2006/01jan/whale_valley.cfmAn article about the Eocene 406 whale fossils preserved in the Faiyum Depression at Wadi Hitan (Whale Valley), an area recently designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO: "The great expanse was...

- Wadi Hittan Nature Reserve On Tourist Map
http://www.sis.gov.eg/online/html12/o200825g.htm"The government is to launch within the next few days the development project of the Wadi Hittan (Whales Valley) nature reserve in Rayan Valley in Fayoum governorate. The project aims at placing this area...

Egypt