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This chapter introduces the people of the wadi and the concept and reality of the Wadi Allaqi Biosphere Reserve. Wadi Allaqi is the largest wadi of the southern part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt, originating in the Red Sea Hills some 200 kilometers to the southeast of where it meets the Nile valley. Before the Aswan High Dam was built, Wadi Allaqi was a dry wadi for all its length. The impoundment of water behind the High Dam led to the creation of an arm of Lake Nasser extending southeastwards some 80–100 kilometers into the lower part of Wadi Allaqi. This essentially created a major new resource opportunity—water—for the Bedouin of the area. Wadi Allaqi has a range of potential resources that has attracted a number of outsiders including major quarrying and agricultural interests and fishermen. These factors add up to significant pressures on the ecology of Wadi Allaqi. As a consequence, the area was formally designated as a Biosphere Reserve in 1993 within the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Program.

This chapter explains the key environmental changes that have come about in Wadi Allaqi as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Clearly, the most significant impact is the presence of a large body of water in this otherwise hyperarid environment, but this has had further implications in terms of the formation of new soils through new patterns of sediment accumulation and loss. The flora and fauna of the area have also responded to this change.

This chapter explores the changing role of women in Wadi Allaqi and gender relations. While men's lives have continued to be focused around the grazing and marketing of sheep, and hence they continue to follow an extensive spatial pattern, women no longer pursue this nomadic lifestyle and instead remain around the shores of Lake Nasser throughout the year, moving short distances only to follow the seasonal movement of the lakeshore. One of the most noticeable outcomes of this sedentarization has been the introduction of agriculture, initially on a small scale and run by women, but on an increasingly large scale and now involving the entire household. This, plus the increasing amount of contact between the Bedouin and outside communities who have come to Wadi Allaqi along the new asphalt road to fish, mine, and farm, has meant the appearance of different opportunities for men and women and this has thus changed, sometimes quite subtly, the nature of gender relations.

This introductory chapter first sets out the focus of the book, which is to explore how various groups of people, or stakeholders, have responded to the challenges and opportunities that have arisen from the creation of Lake Nasser, the lake that formed behind the Aswan High Dam in southern Egypt. These stakeholders include diverse groups such as mining companies, migratory fishermen, commercial farmers, governorate planners, politicians, university researchers and last, but certainly by no means least, the resident Bedouin of the region. It is this last group that arguably has the biggest stake of all, because it is they who live and work there, and use and manage the resources, and it is this group on which this book really focuses. The chapter then discusses the issues of environmental change and sustainability. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.

This chapter examines the effects of environmental changes brought about by the Aswan High Dam on the resource base for those people living in the desert. It considers the resources traditionally available to the Bedouin, and the new opportunities emerging as a result of the High Dam Lake. The resultant biomass now provides a range of exploitable resources. Grazing resources consequent upon the retreat of the lake are now available from October to November until the following August, and are being increasingly supplemented by the cultivation of small amounts of fodder crops, irrigated by either lake water directly or seepage water from the lake that fills wells, sometimes at considerable distances from the lakeshore. The biomass, especially tamarisk bushes and trees, also provides firewood and building materials, as well as medicinal plants and herbs. If the soils of Wadi Allaqi are used with care and are maintained properly, they are more than capable of supporting cultivation on small farms.

This chapter looks to what the future holds for the Wadi Allaqi environment. It examines the tensions between the desire to develop the resource opportunities in the area with the preservation of this environment, and the daily existence of the Bedouin living there. It also identifies major threats to the long-term sustainability of Wadi Allaqi, including itinerant fishermen, quarry-workers, and the military.