The oppression of trees in Egypt

A new form of oppression has emerged in Egypt, and this time it is not about putting people behind bars. This oppression is against nature, and it targets old and rare trees which are getting cut down all over the country under the pretext of expanding roads, building bridges and lining canals and drains.

Scorching temperatures are more frequent and are causing a lot of suffering in summer. Record highs of nearly 50 degrees Celsius have been recorded, especially in the south of the country. Nevertheless, the shrinking of green spaces in towns and cities has become a bitter reality, even as the regime claims to be encouraging a green lifestyle.

Egypt expects to be affected by climate change, with predictions of an increasing number and intensity of heatwaves, dust storms and high rates of pollution. This prompts us to ask why trees are being cut down in a primarily agricultural country largely dependent on the River Nile, the longest river in the world.

According to Egypt Vision 2030 announced by the Egyptian government in 2018, the plan was to have an average per capita share of urban green spaces of one square metre in 2020, increasing to three square metres by 2030. This is a much lower rate than international standards issued by the World Health Organisation, which recommend at least nine square metres of green space per capita.

The reality on the ground is very different to the official plans, with an actual decline in green spaces, to less than 0.74 square metres per person in Cairo. This is clearly well below the WHO minimum standard, as the Centre for Alternative Policy Solutions at the American University in Cairo has pointed out.

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The extent of the decline in green spaces in Egypt is surprising. Average green area per capita was 0.87 square metres in 2017, while in 2012 it was about three square metres, according to data from the General Authority for Urban Planning.

Green spaces have been wiped out at an accelerated and increasing rate recently, under the pretext of carrying out government development plans.

Cairo lost about 910,894 square metres of its already limited green spaces between 2017 and 2020, amid an ongoing shrinkage of the remaining green spaces across the country.

Egypt had around 7.8 million square metres of green spaces in 2017, but only 6.9m in 2022, according to a 2022 study in the Academic Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It was the focus of a parliamentary briefing request, submitted to the prime minister by Representative Maha Abdel Nasser in the Egyptian House of Representatives on the same issue.

A stroll in the streets and neighbourhoods of Cairo is enough for anyone to see the extent of the destruction of public parks bulldozed and turned into shops, restaurants, cafes and petrol stations, including parts of the International Park in Nasr City which was made available for private sector investment. Seven thousand square metres of green areas were destroyed.

The Lotus Garden in Nasr City was also bulldozed to build a multi-storey car park and five thousand square metres were cut from the 10th of Ramadan Park to establish a petrol station. Furthermore, the Merryland Park in the Heliopolis neighbourhood was bulldozed to build a memorial, a garage and a walkway for people and bicycles, while Al-Munib Park was converted into a public taxi stand.

Al-Fustat Park in Cairo, the historic Zoo and Orman Gardens in Giza Governorate, Montazah and Antoniadis in Alexandria, and Happy Land in Mansoura; none of them was spared from these development plans. Opponents say that the plans will get rid of what remains of rare and perennial trees in the country, all for investment and entertainment projects.

The independent Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights organisation flashed a red light about this in its research paper “So That Green Does Not Go Away”, which said that the average per capita share of green spaces across all Egyptian governorates had decreased to only 17 square centimetres. The State Information Service, meanwhile, claimed that the figure was estimated at about 1.2 square metres.

The authorities in Cairo are not disclosing the size of the green spaces that have been bulldozed, and the number of trees that have been cut down in recent years.

The common denominator in all of this destruction of green spaces and trees is the fact that the “development” projects are run directly by the armed forces and its executive arm the National Service Projects Authority. Most of these areas were allocated to the ministry of defence as per presidential decisions issued after the military coup in July 2013.

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An official source in a government agricultural agency, who requested anonymity, said that the decisions to bulldoze gardens and cut down trees are carried out as part of government developmental plans, without consulting concerned authorities such as the Ministries of Agriculture and Irrigation and the National Organisation for Urban Coordination. The source predicted that more green spaces will be bulldozed, which will put increasing pressure onto Cairo’s only means of fresh air in future years.

This will also add to the financial burdens that ordinary Egyptians are facing. Almost all — 95 per cent — Egyptians in Cairo’s are forced to pay for to access parks and to enjoy some green spaces, according to a 2019 study by researchers Hossam Fathi and Nizar Kafafi. The study was published by the International Journal of Development and Sustainability.

Right now, it is rare for Egyptians to have free access to green spaces. Such spaces are available to members of privately-owned sports clubs, or within upscale residential complexes known as compounds.

A few days ago, people were complaining about the price of tickets for Al-Azhar Park in central Cairo, which is a famous tourist attraction. Tickets cost 70 Egyptian pounds per person (about $1.50), during the Eid Al-Adha holiday.

Experts are ringing alarm bells about the dangers of uprooting ancient, priceless and rare trees.

Some of them are up to 200 years old, and are being destroyed in exchange for ugly concrete that distorts the scenery of historical Cairo and erases aspects of nature and beauty from the Egyptian street, all in the name of development and profit.

A political researcher who asked to remain anonymous said that the absence of oversight and accountability is behind what he described as the “tree massacre” coinciding with the increasing summer heat and people’s urgent need for green spaces that can reduce the effects of pollution and global warming. The researcher pointed out that a form of corruption is taking place in this regard where some officials in executive organisations in neighbourhood and city councils and committees cut down trees, sell the wood and pocket the money.

Speculation about what’s going on has led to claims that a retired army general is behind the cutting down of so many trees and turning them into charcoal to be sold to Israel. This follows Colombia’s decision to suspend the export of wood charcoal to the occupation state. Others have hinted that cutting down trees makes it easier for surveillance by the Egyptian authorities in anticipation of demonstrations against the regime, although this is denied by media close to the government.

Egyptians are circulating video clips on social media of huge and rare trees being cut down, while some are sharing “before and after” pictures of entire streets and neighbourhoods which have had their trees cut down. They mock the 2022 presidential initiative to plant 100 million trees within seven years.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi asked the government of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, live on air in December 2021, not to plant any ornamental trees in Egypt, under the pretext of rationalising water supplies. He emphasised that this was an order, which his opponents say is an order against a green lifestyle, implemented under military rule. The oppression of trees in Egypt looks set to continue.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.