Wadi El Assiut Protectorate - Asiout

Wadi El Assiut Protectorate - Asiout

Wadi Al Assiut is a protected area in Asiout Governorate in Egypt. The date of its announcement was 1989 and the area covered by the same is 35 square km. The type of protectorate is captive and a multi protected area and it is located about 400 km from Cairo.

The sections of the protectorate

The Wadi el-Assiut protectorate in Egypt is divided into two major regions one of which is the captive and breeding wild animals and the other is captive and plant genes. The former is where the captive and breeding of animals like bighom, Egyptian deer, mountain goats, zebra, ostrich and some reptiles is one. While the latter is where some threatened species of plants like palm trees, bushes, plantations and more such aromatic and economic crops are planted and protected also; here wild genes are collected for reproduction.

More about the protectorate

The Assuiti valley starts as a tributary out of which the most important ones are the south of Qena valley and till the north. The protectorate is unique and different from most others in Egypt as its here where breeding of wild animals and wild plants which are endangered species is done.

The protectorate was a result of a joint project which happened between the University of Arizona in USA and the Assiout University located in Egypt. The place is a reserve where the raising and breeding of some endangered or on the threat of extinction species of plants and animals is done so that they can be taken back to their natural habitats and while keeping only a few for scientific research and other such reasons.

Starting of the Wadi

The Wadi el Assuiti protectorate is a valley which was once a large dry river area and it got birth from the Red sea hills after the High Dam and Lake Nasser got constructed. The lake Nasser after getting filled with water led the water flow into the Wadi Al which covered a large part of the valley; the lower water levels helped the lake become a part. The protectorate is a fine example of the dry lands.

Utility of the protectorate or the reserve

The reserve is unique and different from all the other reserves that can be seen in Egypt mostly it being a breeding ground of many varieties of plants and animals. Also contained in the protectorate are some endangered species of flora and fauna which could only be seen in the Egyptian deserts. The reserve also contains genes origins of importance to modernization of agriculture. The reserve plays an important role in the mission of genes bank of some agricultural crops and helps in studying and researching those. Also included are some medicinal herbs, wild plants and scattered trees of doum palm and acacia alongside clusters of torrential streams on the side. In the reserve area, these are some wildlife animals like deer’s and some kinds of reptiles and a large number of non-vertebral that live under bushes or in rock cracks. Though small in size, the reserve in Egypt has an important role in the environmental equilibrium and soil fertility.