Egypt faces 'environmental crisis' following ousting of Mubarak

It is a warm and sunny April afternoon on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. The sun is blazing down on dozens of lounging people, soaking up the rays from the yellow mass. Ironically, it is here where the ozone layer’s hole peeks through. Burning is a major risk. Looking around at the sand, however, it quickly becomes apparent that Egypt has an environmental problem on its hands.

Plastic bags, empty cups and the remnants of sunbathers are strewn across would be pristine sands on the Red Sea coast. Environmental groups in the country have long lamented on the poor state of environmental awareness in the country, with campaign after campaign ending with little success. Now, with Egypt moving forward after ousting President Hosni Mubarak from three decades in power, there is growing hope that change will finally see the implementation of green policy, along the Red Sea coast, along the Nile River and throughout the Arab world’s largest country.

It will take strong efforts from activists and environmental leaders to effect that change however, said Omar Radwan, a political activist who participated in the clean up of Cairo’s Tahrir Square on a number of occasions during the...

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