One of the key legislative pillars of nature protection in the Arab Republic of Egypt is the Law No. 102/1983 on protected areas. Warning signs with pictograms of forbidden activities including big notice "By Law No. 102 of 1983" can be found on every beach along the Red Sea. Everyone is obliged to respect the law. In the opposite case the one risk fine 500 USD or even jail. Let's highlight the basic points of the law.

By the Law No. 102/1983 shall be prohibited:

• catching transporting killing or disturbing wildlife
• damaging or removing any living organisms or natural features and resources such as shells, corals, rocks, or soil for any purpose
• camaging or removing plants (from) the protected areas
• spoiling or destroying the geological structures (and other features) of areas serving as natural habitats and breeding areas for plants and animals     introducing foreign (non-indigenous) species of biota into the protected area
• polluting the soil, water, or air of the protected areas in any manner.

As you could notice, the Law No. 102 of 1983 is pretty strict. We would like to point out to the Article 2 which says that hunting, quarrying and disturbing nature in protected areas of the Arab Republic of Egypt is forbidden. This de facto means that all protected areas of Egypt are considered to be a wilderness. There is one more interesting fact. The Law No. 102 of 1983 is addressed to protected areas only. However based on our observation it is valid for entire coral coastline of the Red Sea in Egypt. More specifically, building activities are allowed out of national parks and nature reserves, but nearby natural beaches and coasts must remain untouched.

Law No 102 of 1983 for Nature Protectorates (format .pdf, 58 kB)

source: EEAA