Eligible Applicants: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility"

Description:

This is NOT a notice of funding opportunity or solicitation. This is a description of a potential activity that USAID/Egypt might implement in the future and is provided for informational purposes only.  At this point in time, USAID/Egypt is primarily interested in having preliminary discussions with organizations that may be interested in funding this potential activity or who want to share ideas regarding the concept presented.

USAID/Egypt

November 2022

1. GOAL AND SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

The goal of the Red Sea Initiative (RSI) is to conserve the Red Sea coral reef and its ecosystem to promote sustainable development in Egypt. Egypt’s economy depends on sun and fun tourism that is directly tied to the Red Sea coral reef ecosystem. This Red Sea coral reef is a world treasure, but it is beset by several threats -- among them over-development, poor boating practices, overfishing, plastics and pollution. The RSI will take an innovative, private-sector led, long-term approach to protect and restore the Red Sea coral reef ecosystem. This is a long-term challenge that needs a long-term, well-funded, and broad-based solution. The RSI will provide this solution through ensuring significant financing for an independent conservation funding vehicle (the “Conservation Vehicle”), which can provide coral reef ecosystem support, accelerate the incubation and adoption of business models with positive impacts on coral reef and marine ecosystems, and funding for sustainable community development in the Red Sea area over a 20 or more-year period. The program would provide long-term support for the coral reef, its ecosystem, and local Red Sea communities through a combination of an inclusive governance structure, advocacy and technical assistance, as well as through small grants and blended finance to facilitate green investment. We propose establishing the RSI under the programs and activities of the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR), which is aligned with the Government of Egypt’s National Climate Change Strategy 2050 and USAID’s Global Climate Strategy 2022-2030. As threats to coastal ecosystems are intrinsically transboundary issues, this initiative will also seek to engage in the envisioned regional collaboration mechanism and coral reef research hub proposed in the GFCR Concept Note for the Gulf of Aqaba and Northern Red Sea (GFCR Concept Note) that will be submitted to the GFCR Executive Board in October 2022.

USAID proposes a contribution of up to $15 million of grant funding, with an aim of attracting an additional $50 million from donor / philanthropic / private contributions by 2023. The geographic focus of the RSI goes beyond the Northern Red Sea area and includes Egypt’s entire Red Sea region. It is our understanding that until a conservation vehicle can be appropriately established, these funds would be managed as determined by GFCR in consultation with USAID. Upon approval of this concept note, USAID envisions working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to help design this program. As noted by the GFCR Secretariat, if approved by the GFCR Executive Board, the Concept Note submitted by UNDP will unlock a preparatory grant for the development of two proposals (one specific to Egypt and one specific to Jordan), while framed under one programmatic umbrella for the Gulf of Aqaba and Northern Red Sea region. Under the RSI concept note, USAID intends to collaborate with UNDP and the GFCR primarily on the development of the Egypt-specific proposal but will provide input and support co-design of the regional coordination mechanisms to promote regional collaboration and accelerate novel solutions to protect the globally important coral reef ecosystems in the Red Sea.

2. BACKGROUND

Human activity threatens the survival of the coral reefs, and its surrounding ecosystem (seagrasses, mangrove forests, and marine wildlife). For a nature-dependent destination such as the Red Sea, preserving the coral reef is essential from both economic and environmental perspectives. To avoid environmental destruction and sustain the tourism and other industries predominant in the south Red Sea, there is an urgent need to make green growth the norm and assure protection of the coral reef. The Red Sea’s reef runs along 4,000 km of coastline and is an important source of income and food for a rapidly growing population of more than 28 million. But human activity, especially the increasing prevalence of “mass tourism” and overfishing, threaten the survival of the Red Sea’s coral reef and coastal ecosystems.

The Red Sea coastal ecosystem is unique. Scientists estimate if climate change causes a temperature rise of 1.5°C, the Earth will lose between 70 to 90 percent of its reefs; a temperature rise of 2°C would eliminate 99 percent of reefs. Red Sea corals are uniquely heat-resilient and recent scientific research notes that they may be among the last reefs to survive the 21st century.[1] 

This activity seeks to preserve the Red Sea coastal ecosystems while simultaneously helping sustainable development in the Red Sea area through regional collaboration pathways. Coral reefs, seagrass, and mangroves all serve as critical nurseries for marine life, and provide essential services such as food, livelihoods, recreation and tourism, and coastal zone protection. Furthermore, these ecosystems are crucial for carbon storage; seagrasses are two times more effective and mangroves four times more effective at sequestering carbon than tropical forests.

The threats to the ecosystem are many. One is over-tourism, defined as an over-concentration of visitors in a single location with detrimental impacts on the natural environment and local communities.

There are other challenges as well -- among them pollution, toxic chemicals and plastics, destructive fishing practices, marine debris and so on. Addressing these many challenges will require a broad-based, well-organized, concerted response that includes community participation, engagement of the private and public sectors, technical assistance and advisory support, and perhaps most important, financing for adaptation and green growth.

Government of Egypt’s Conservation and Environmentally Sustainable Tourism and Development Efforts

The RSI activity aligns with several Government of Egypt strategies and initiatives.  The Government of Egypt recently released its Climate Change Strategy 2050 report, which has five key pillars: promoting sustainable economic growth, increasing adaptive capacity, enhancing climate change governance, increasing climate change finance, and enhancing research and development related to climate change. This year the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities jointly produced a three-volume report called the Strategic Environmental Assessment focused on promoting sustainable Red Sea tourism. In addition, these ministries launched in May 2022 a new website promoting best green practices for hotels and restaurants (http://www.estportal.org). This effort supports ongoing efforts by the Government to support sustainable tourism -- including the Green Star Hotel certification, which achieved international recognition by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) in April 2021.

This RSI program also aligns with the Government of Egypt’s preparations for COP27. This activity also aligns with the Government of Egypt’s efforts to diversify the tourism sector and promote nature tourism, such as the Ministry of Environment’s “Eco Egypt” campaign, which aims to “reconnect adventurous travelers with Egypt’s countless ecological sites and protected areas.”[2]

3. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Under the RSI program, USAID will support a long-term Conservation Vehicle to conserve the Red Sea coral reef and its ecosystem to promote sustainable development in Egypt. This entity is expected to perform two functions:

 ●  Promote broad-based, well-organized, concerted response - The program will organize, perhaps through the creation of a board, many government and private sector stakeholders, with the objective of protecting and preserving the coral reefs and coastal ecosystem and sustainable development in Egypt. Additional activities could include research and monitoring, advocacy, technical assistance, policy recommendations and community engagement, etc.

●     Green Investment Facilitation - RSI will support green investment and manage a pool of funds to be used as small grants and blended finance that encourage a spectrum of green investment to support preservation of the Red Sea coral reefs. To note, green investments include both land and marine based activities. This will include grants to support local organizations, small investments such as small-scale solar systems, as well as blended finance to enable private financing for larger investments such as waste-water treatment facilities, waste management, or other renewable energy resources.

4. TIMELINE AND NEXT STEPS

USAID will collaborate with UNDP on designing this activity over the following year. This collaborative design process will provide much greater detail about the ideas presented in this concept note. USAID intends to start the process of identifying potential partners and attracting contributions from other development partners, private sector entities, and philanthropic bodies. If your organization or company would like more information on the RSI or is interested in supporting this initiative, please contact Michael Trueblood (mtrueblood@usaid.gov), Surabh Nathani (snathani@usaid.gov), or Marian Mohareb (mmohareb@usaid.gov).

[1] Oslam, Eslam O. et al, “Thermal Refugia Against Coral Bleaching Throughout the Northern Red Sea,” Global Change Biology, Vol. 24 (2017): e474-e484. See also, “Egypt’s Coral Reefs Endangered Due to Climate Change,” Daily News Egypt, December 18, 2021 https://dailynewsegypt.com/2021/12/18/egypts-coral-reefs-endangered-due-

to-climate-change/

[2]  https://ecoegypt.org/