A little while ago I posted about the Egyptian Petition to save the marvellous landscape in the Northern Faiyum from destruction by massive tourist and other development. Since then the campaign NO PORTO FAYOUM is putting increasing pressure on developers and authorities to change plans. In my view there is a need for a map showing the natural and archaeological treasures and how these will be affected by development.

Here’s the simple Google Map I’ve made to give a first overview:

Current (2011) efforts at stopping modern development within the Lake Qarun Nature Protectorate (green outline on the map) is grounded on three main values of the area:

• Unique archaeological record, spanning almost the entire history of humankind (shown in orange on the map)
• Unique palaeontological (fossil) record, especially early primates (yellow)
• Rich habitats along the shorelines, especially for birds

Modern development – ongoing and planned – is shown in violet on the map.

Please click on the various map features to get a description of what they are hiding! And please note that there may be (are!) many more archaeological and other sites than shown on the map. If you want to help in developing the map for the benefit of the Northern Faiyum landscape, please drop me a line. And make sure that you sign the petition on saving the this rich and beautiful landscape!