Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Protected area / relocation · Egypt · 2020–2022

4,700 families moved for Cairo's Fustat Gardens; Heliopolis lost 390,000 m² of green

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities reported that 4,700 families moved from Ezbet Abu Qarn to make way for the Fustat Gardens park on a former dump. Ahram Online reported in 2020 that about 390,000 square meters of Heliopolis green space were removed in four months for roads.

What?
Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities reported that 4,700 families had moved from Ezbet Abu Qarn to make way for Fustat Gardens, a park of about 500 feddans on a former dump. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
Where?
Cairo, Egypt: Fustat (Ezbet Abu Qarn) and Heliopolis Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
When?
The Fustat relocation was reported in January 2022; the Heliopolis green removal was reported in 2020. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
Who?
Gained
Lost
  • Heliopolis residents — About 390,000 square meters of green space and roughly 2,500 trees were removed in four months for road widening Ahram Online (AFP)
Harmed
Why?
Ahram Online's headline ties the Heliopolis green removal to roads for the new desert capital. Ahram Online (AFP)
How?
Families were moved into Maan housing in Madinat al-Salam to clear the Fustat site, the ministry page reports. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities reported in January 2022 that 4,700 families from Ezbet Abu Qarn had moved to Maan housing in Madinat al-Salam for Fustat Gardens.

The ministry described the park as about 500 feddans on a former dump.

Ahram Online (AFP) reported in 2020 that about 390,000 square meters of green space and roughly 2,500 trees were removed in four months in Heliopolis for road widening.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Fustat Gardens has been described as the largest park in the Middle East.
    • None on record The sources do not state how the families were compensated beyond the move to Madinat al-Salam.
    • None on record The sources do not name the road contractors or state what they gained.
    • None on record The sources do not give the cost of the park or the road works.
    • None on record The sources do not say whether the removed Heliopolis green space has been replaced.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. The Prime Minister. Fustat Gardens project
      Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities · 2022-01

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Similar cases
    Mining · Protected area / relocation · Turkey · 2022–2026
    Milas–Yatağan olive groves opened to mining (Law 7554, temporary article 45)
    Same type: Protected area / relocationSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Biotech, cloning and de-extinction · Protected area / relocation · United States · 2022–2026
    Colossal Biosciences: de-extinction ventures, funding and the Burgum remark
    Same type: Protected area / relocationSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Protected area / relocation · Tanzania · 1992–2026
    Ngorongoro and Loliondo relocations
    Same type: Protected area / relocationHarm to nature not measured
    Carbon credits · Protected area / relocation · Kenya · 2012–2026
    Northern Kenya Grasslands Carbon Project and the Isiolo court ruling
    Same type: Protected area / relocationHarm to nature not measured
    Fishing ban · Protected area / relocation · European Union · 2017–2026
    Bottom trawling in European marine protected areas
    Same type: Protected area / relocationHarm to nature not measured
    Protected area / relocation · Tanzania · 2017–2025
    World Bank REGROW project, Ruaha National Park
    Same type: Protected area / relocationHarm to nature not measured