Implementation of An Eco-Touristic Center In Wadi Deir Mar Musa Protected Area (SYR/OP3/2/06/10)

Project Details & Results

The project addresses the problems of deteriorating biodiversity is Wadi Deir Mar Musa area due to practices like overgrazing, migration, and lack of common policy concerning natural resource management. This centre will provide eco-touristic activities linked with environmental awareness in order to activate cultural and historical tourism in the region, in addition to promotion of handcraft activities to create income resources and livelihood alternatives for the local community.

Notable Community Participation
This Wadi center project, as well as the global project of protected area, is the center of a network of various actors. The Commission of the protected area, managing body of the project, meets most of those actors (Government, Syrian Society, local stakeholders). They meet every month to go on with the different sides of the project.
The commission leads the project and has the overall responsibility for its implementation. For the 2 first years of the project of Wadi Center, the monastery Deir Mar Musa, which has already a 15 years old experience of implementing projects, will be responsible of the accountability in front of the Commission.
It relies on various partners, chosen by the Commission, to implement the various aspects of the project. Today, those actors are the followings: Ministry of Agriculture, City Hall of Nabek, local and international NGO’s, Research organisms, institutions like Royal Ontario Museum, Deir Mar Musa monastery. The creativity of those different actors will be promoted, at the same time the Commission will check that their project are compatible with the spirit of Wadi Deir Mar Musa protected area.
A regular team will be formed, in order to assure the every day life of the Wadi Center, and the big events occurring in the Wadi center.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods
the start of visible eco-touristic activities in the protected area WADI DMM will afford new development for local economy: handcraft activities, hostel and restaurant, guiding tours in the mountains. For the commission of the protected area, local people involvement in the activities of the Wadi centre is a priority. The local people will also be the first beneficiaries of the new accommodations offered by the Wadi centre, during the spring’s and summer’s week-ends.

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples
•Royal Ontario Museum (Canada)
•Ministry of Agriculture (Syria)
•French Embassy in Damascus
•Hans Seidel Foundation (Germany)
•Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development CCFD (France)
•Foundation Total for Biodiversity (Fr)
•City Hall of Nabek
•Royal Museum of Toronto

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
To protect the environment, in our context, means to find new ways of managing natural resources: Our Wadi centre and the garden of local plants around it will allow us to achieve a wiser use of those resources, and it will propose a new way to manage our particular ecosystem, taking account of water scarcity. Environmental innovations in terms water, waste and rangeland management in this pilot site - the Wadi centre and its surroundings – will function as a “show-window” for Syrian and international visitors of the site. This shall raise awareness of the value and fragility of a desert environment. This initiative will also reinforce the emerging initiatives to protect environment in Nabek area (cf. Biodiversity Garden, a starting project co-managed by IPGRI and Nabek town, supported by the Swiss Embassy).

Project Results
number of participants/benefitiaries
female male children
tourists and visitors app.1000 app.2000 app.1500
seminars participants 150 450 50
youth meetings 70 80 50
tree day and exhibition 150 200 50
capacity building 5 15

main results
providing an example for eco-tourism where visitors receive awareness on environment protection and impotrants of biodiversity

Annual spring seminars became a tradition and meeting place where stakeholders including local community, academic sector, local authorities, and international donors get together to discuss issues related to Deir Mar Musa Protected Area. additionally, these seminar were used to provide latest reaearch and statistics on environment protection, mainly usage of renewable energies.

enforcement of partnerships with local communities, mainly shepards and local NGOs, who eventually became members of the protected area management committee

Deir Mar Musa played an important role in marketing local products such as medicinal plants, copper handcrafts, handmade products produced by disabled

lessons learned
during planning stage, it is important to take into consideration that government procedures can take much longer that expected due to bureaucracy

impotance of developing good communication routes with local communities

involvement of several partners in one project may complicate work or cause serious delay due to difficulty in coordination between all partners and lack of commitment by some partners. therefore, it is recommended to separate into smaller projects for easier management