local women spend two to three hours a day in the water collecting seeds from the lotus stalks. then they sort them, shell and dry them, and over a period of several weeks, turn them into couscous. mariya: after the dam was built, until last year we couldn't harvest anything. but now nature has started to recover. the lotuses have returned, and we can collect their seeds again. reporter: they harvested some 600 kilos last year -- enough to feed their families for months, and sell the excess. another successful venture made possible by the park. local craft traditions have also made a comeback. these women make jewelry they're planning to sell. the raw materials come from the national park. samantha: these are tiny beads that they make from tree resin. and we help them extract the resin without destroying the trees. reporter: back in the delta, biologist zeine el abidine is out on the water almost every day taking a look at the nesting sites. zeine: i love these birds, they're my favorite animals. they're beautiful, and they're also proof that the environment is in good shape. if