| Dear Yehya Tony Howard has forwarded your mail to me, and has also said that you feel that RSCN is being unfairly singled out for criticism, when other agencies and government bodies are also involved in decision-making about Wadi Rum. I agree that this may be true, but the only contacts we have are you, and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities - who have not so far answered my letter. If you could give me contacts (address and e-mail) for other bodies involved, I will be quite happy to put these on the "WadiRumForum" website, and encourage people to write to these bodies. I am sorry that I did not get back to you to give you the address of the website http://www.oocities.org/wadirumforum/ as you have no doubt now discovered. As I said before, we are quite happy to give your point of view as well. I said in my e-mail of 16th February :- "If you are willing to contribute your point of view and give information about your plans, this would be very welcome... ...I will certainly put on the website your answers to my e-mail. If you had a draft management plan which I could put on the web site, it would be very useful, and give a concrete basis to the discussions." You say that we misunderstand what is happening, but you do not give any concrete information. In particular, you have not answered the important question in my last e-mail :- "What will be the "designated places" ?" in which climbing and camping will be allowed ? If you could give an answer to this question, and also to the questions which Tony Howard asked, ie ""Can you give any answers to these particular points on which we make positive suggestions in our Draft 9 document: * 1 rights for wild camping for climbers, trekkers * 2 zoning and rights of access for climbers, trekkers and traditional access and land use for local people * 3 will the Rest House will remain where it is after the Visitor Centre is complete * 4 continued right to camp in the valley behind the Rest House area after Visitor Centre is complete * 5 continued right to hire guides in village after Visitor Centre is complete * 6 continued right to hire guides of personal choice in village"" I would like to put your answers to these questions on the "WadiRumForum" website. There is also another question which has been brought up by people seeing the website. In your mail you said :- "Visitors will be allowed to drive their cars in the protected area, but we are going to grade tracks for the cars..." and this has also worried people. Could you be more specific about what you mean by "grade tracks" ? I look forward to receiving your reply to these points. In the meantime, I will put your mail to Tony Howard on the website (with a copy of this response to it) unless you prefer me not to - please let me know if you do NOT want it to go on the website. Sincerely Kate Ness |
| Kate to RSCN 18th March 2002 |