CAIRO — The Egyptian government has embarked on a national project aimed at creating Nile crocodile farms and terrariums. Al-Monitor received a copy of the program memorandum that the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, which is affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Environment, prepared and sent to parliament in December 2016.

According to the memorandum, the construction phase is set to begin some time in 2017, the trial production of terrarium crocodiles and leather products in 2019, and the commercial production and export in 2020.

During the fifth conference of the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which was held in Doha in 2010, the government succeeded in passing a proposal to move the indigo crocodile population in the Egyptian environments from the first appendix — which prohibits hunting — to the second appendix of the CITES convention in 2010. According to the government memorandum titled “Nile Crocodile in Egypt,” the number of crocodiles found in Lake Nasser, in southern Egypt, exceeds 30,000.

The memorandum referred to Article B of the CITES convention, which allows hunting and economically managing crocodiles away from their environment, thus facilitating their artificial cultivation, the commercial promotion of a share of the second and third generations, and the dedication of another share for scientific research purposes.