Nature Conservation
by Shoshana Gabbay
Israel's commitment to nature conservation,
characterized by a wide variety of programs, is by no
means a recent development. Concern for all living things
and prohibitions against environmental degradation may
be traced back to biblical sources. Indeed, the first
chapters of the Book
of Genesis emphasize the vital link between humanity
(adam) and the earth (adamah) and introduce the
concept of stewardship by enjoining man to work the
earth and to watch over it. Israel's rebirth in modern
times was sparked by this age-old commitment of the
people to their land.
The roots of Israel's nature protection movement may
be traced back to the organization of a small group
of nature lovers and scientists around a specific issue:
the draining of Lake
Hula and its surrounding swamps in order to combat
malaria and reclaim the land for agriculture (1951-58).
This small group of conservationists, who fought for
the preservation of a small area of swampland as a nature
reserve, understood that the death of the swamps would
spell the death of the valley's indigenous flora
and fauna as well. Their successful campaign assured
not only the survival of the Hula habitat, but the birth
of Israel's nature protection movement.
- Geography & Diversity
- Nature Protection
- Species Conservation
- A Focus on Birds
- Genetic Conservation
- Afforestation
- Challenges
- Toward A Solution
Geography
and Diversity
With a small land area, Israel is characterized
by a wide range of physical conditions and by a rich
variety of flora and fauna. Along its 470-kilometer
length, Israel embraces landscapes that are normally
separated by thousands of kilometers in other countries.
Mount Hermon in the north boasts snowy slopes and alpine
fauna and flora, while the Gulf of Eilat, in the south,
harbors spectacular coral reefs and colorful fish that
represent the tropical zones. Lying between these two
extremes are arid desert areas, lush oases, green Mediterranean
woods and forests, and the lowest point on earth - the
Dead Sea.
Israel's geographic location at the junction of three
continents, coupled with the climatic changes throughout
the history of this region, have been largely responsible
for the country's high diversity of species. The wealth
of Israel's biological diversity is expressed in some
2,600 plant species (150 of which are indigenous to
Israel), 7 amphibian, nearly 100 reptile, over 500 bird
and about 100 mammal species. Within its small land
area, two different and even opposing climate regimes
are found - Mediterranean in the north and desert in
the south. The central part of Israel is a transition
area between these two biogeographical regions, where
desert biota is replaced gradually by Mediterranean
biota.
Israel is situated at the meeting point of three phytogeographical
regions - Mediterranean, Irano-Turanian and Saharo-Arabian
- and contains a diverse collection of herbaceous plants,
especially annuals and geophytes, typical of all three.
Species widely distributed over the entire Mediterranean
climate region reach their southern limit of distribution
in Israel. Saharan or Asian desert species reach their
northern limits of distribution in this country while
Irano-Turanian species reach their western limit here.
Israel is the northernmost limit for the presence of
plants such as the papyrus reed and the southernmost
limit for others like the bright red coral peony.
Nature Conservation
A highlight in the history of nature
conservation in Israel is the campaign to rescue the
country's wildflowers. Picking wildflowers used to be
such a popular pastime that by the beginning of the
1960s, many of the more attractive flowering plants
were on the brink of extinction. Anemones and cyclamen,
which bloomed in profusion and symbolized the beauty
of Israel's landscape, had nearly vanished. To reverse
this trend, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) and the newly-born Nature Reserves Authority launched
a campaign which focused on both legislation and public
education. In retrospect, this turned out to be the
most successful public environmental re-education campaign
ever launched in Israel. Today, thirty years later,
Israelis scrupulously avoid picking wildflowers and
the country abounds with their rich splendor.
Perhaps more than any other organization, the SPNI
has been instrumental in raising public consciousness
of nature and environmental protection. Since its foundation
in 1953, the SPNI has spearheaded dozens of campaigns
for the protection of Israel's unique landscapes, wildlife,
natural environment and, most recently, open spaces,
from the side effects of unwise development. In order
to introduce as many people as possible to the country's
natural legacy and to promote nature conservation, it
has set up an excellent educational network with 14
field study centers, dozens of urban and regional branches,
hundreds of youth clubs and comprehensive teacher training
programs. Today, the SPNI is Israel's largest non-governmental
environmental organization. Through its broad-based
program of education, conservation, research and public
action, nearly twenty percent of the population are
involved in its myriad activities.
Recognition of the need to protect Israel's precious
natural and landscape resources led to the enactment
of numerous laws for the protection of nature and wildlife.
These laws provide the legal structure for the protection
of natural habitats, natural assets, wildlife and sites
of scientific and educational interest. In 1998, two
independent agencies, the Nature Reserves Authority
and the National Parks Authority joined forces to become
what is now called the Israel Nature and Parks Authority
(INPA). The new agency is entrusted with safeguarding
the landscape, and enabling Israelis and tourists to
enjoy the country's natural assets, landscape, culture
and history. One of the primary mandates of the INPA
is to preserve and develop nature reserves - "islets"
of landscape containing unique and characteristic animal,
plant and mineral forms which must be protected from
any undesirable changes in their appearance, biological
composition or evolution. In a small country, with a
high rate of industrialization and urbanization, nature
reserves help secure the biodiversity of the natural
environment. About 160 nature reserves and 65 national
parks have been established throughout the country (out
of a total of 380 nature reserves and 115 national parks
that are in various stages of planning). While nature
reserves are predominantly concerned with the conservation
of nature in its pristine state, national parks have
been established in order to develop open spaces for
recreational purposes. The parks play an important role
in protecting the country's natural beauty from rapidly
encroaching urbanization and restoring and maintaining
antiquities that have been neglected for centuries.
Together, the reserves and parks represent the entire
spectrum of Israel's natural heritage - Mediterranean
forests, seaside landscapes, sand dunes, desert and
crater landscapes and oases - as well as its unique
archeological and historic heritage, including ancient
synagogues with mosaic floors, caves inhabited by prehistoric
man, and fortresses dating back to the Second
Temple Period.
Two additional projects deserve special mention in
any discussion of nature conservation in Israel. The
first is Neot Kedumim situated halfway between Jerusalem and Tel
Aviv. As the world's only biblical landscape reserve,
Neot Kedumim has developed a network of natural and
agricultural landscapes that recreate the physical settings
of the Bible. The reserve features habitats for such
varied species as cedars from the snow-covered mountains
of Lebanon and date palms from Sinai desert oases, as
well as hundreds of varieties of biblical and Talmudic
plants, wild and domesticated animals, ancient and reconstructed
olive and wine presses, and cisterns.
The second is "Eretz Hamahteshim" (Craterland),
an ecologically unique area in the Negev desert which is designated for conservation according
to a government decision. The Negev's five crater-like
mahteshim are geological phenomena unique to Israel
and the Eastern Sinai. These eroded valleys present
an exceptional view into geomorphologic evolution and
are replete with unique geological phenomena, a wealth
of minerals and a singular ecological system. The area
has been proposed as an international human heritage
site.
Botanical gardens complete the nature conservation
network. Two botanical gardens were established in Jerusalem
in association with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem:
one comprises the country's largest collection of plants,
including plants from different parts of the world displayed
in natural plant associations; the other contains the
various species of plant life found in the land of Israel.
In the center of the country, Tel Aviv University has
established both Botanical Gardens and Gardens for Zoological
Research. The Gardens serve as centers for education,
tourism and recreation, acquainting both children and
adults with the fauna and flora of their country while
introducing them to concepts of ecology, conservation
and environmental awareness.
Species Conservation
It is significant that outside the
confines of nature reserves, hundreds of plants and
animal species, including ferns, wildflowers, shrubs,
trees and fish as well as inanimate natural assets such
as fossils and beach rocks have been declared "protected
natural assets." Various national agencies work
to protect these natural assets wherever they may be.
Animals such as the leopard, gazelle, ibex and vulture
have been declared protected species, and special rescue
operations, including establishment of feeding stations
and nesting sites, have been initiated to protect endangered
species. At two special wildlife reserves - the Hai
Bar biblical reserves in the Aravah and on Mount
Carmel - an experimental project to reintroduce animal
species which once roamed the hills and deserts of the
Land of Israel into their former natural habitats has
been initiated. In recent years, fallow deer, roe deer
and wild sheep have been returned to the lush Carmel
Mountain Range and onagers and Arabian oryx to the sandy
Negev and Arava. Reproduction groups of endangered vultures
have been established in a number of sites and these
birds, too, will eventually be set free.
In parallel, an ongoing project seeks to identify the
status of all of the country's plant and animal species.
This will allow Israel to draw up a "Red List"
of endangered and threatened species. The Red Data Book
on vertebrates has been completed, while the compilation
of the necessary data for the Red Data Book on plant
species, based on a field survey of rare and endangered
plant species, is nearing completion.
Existing databases are constantly being expanded. One
example is the database of the INPA, now available on
the Internet (www.natureinfo.org.il),
which consists of over 350,000 individual records of
plant and animal observations from 1963 until the present.
Similarly, the ROTEM Israel Plant Information Center
is developing an ecological database of Israel's flora,
which includes over 430,000 records on the distribution
and phenology of native plants. Finally, in order to
make taxonomic information more accessible, the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem has launched BioGIS (www.biogis.huji.ac.il),
an Internet-based biodiversity information system. The
database compiles records of plant and animal species
from herbaria and museum collections and from surveys
carried out by academic institutions, individual scientists,
government authorities and non-governmental organizations.
A Focus on
Birds
Israel's unique location at the junction of three continents
makes it an international crossroads for migrating
birds. Some 500 million birds - including 85% of
the global white stork population - cross Israel's skies
twice yearly on their way to Africa in the autumn and
to Europe and Asia in the spring. Three soaring bird
migration routes have been identified: the western route
which stretches along the length of the Judean and Samarian
Hills; the Jordan Rift Valley and Negev desert route;
and the Eilat mountains route. At Latrun, situated midway
between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and at the very heart
of the western migration route, an International Center
for the Study of Bird Migration was set up. One of its
foremost goals is to develop multi-disciplinary studies
on the subject of migration while strengthening research
connections with European countries (where the birds
nest), Middle Eastern countries (through which the birds
migrate) and African nations (where the birds winter).
Joint research over the past decade has already yielded
impressive results. Over 90 white storks have been monitored
and tracked with satellite-linked transmitters, and
research has recently been broadened to satellite tracking
of cranes and vultures as well. Based on this research,
a broad-based educational program was initiated, with
the participation of over 200 schools throughout the
world. The Israeli-based project, entitled "Migrating
Birds Know No Boundaries," allows students
to use the Internet to track migrating birds that are
carrying transmitters. The program was developed as
part of a model for international and regional activity
that combines scientific research on bird migration
with other societal concerns such as flight safety,
eco-tourism, nature conservation and education. The
theme of the Internet project is symbolic not only of
the flight of birds across continents and states, but
of the potential for regional cooperation among all
the peoples of the Middle East.
Within Israel, numerous projects have been carried
out to protect migrating and residential birds such
as the lesser kestrel, storks, cranes and vultures.
The lesser kestrel, one of three species of birds which
breed in Israel and are considered to be globally endangered,
has gained special attention. A recent survey conducted
by the Israel Ornithological Center has shown that only
550 pairs remain today, just 10% of the number found
in Israel just fifty years ago. The few breeding pairs
that still survive breed in a few local colonies, the
most important of which are in urban areas, in Jerusalem
and in southern Mt. Carmel. To preserve this beautiful
but endangered species, a project was launched combining
educational activities, public awareness and surveys
and research. One initiative has brought together children
from Jerusalem and Jericho in a joint effort to build
and place nesting boxes, to guard the nests, to rescue
nestlings that fall from the nest and to observe and
record bird behavior. In addition, a new wine was inaugurated
in Israel as a joint project of environmental and economic
bodies; every purchase of a bottle or case will yield
a double benefit - enjoyment of a fine wine and dedication
of a portion of the profits to the struggle to protect
this small and beautiful bird of prey.
While bird hunting for food and sport is commonplace in most Mediterranean countries, Israel has a stellar record on bird conservation. Over six and a half million birds are killed or captured yearly in Egypt, Italy, Libya, Syria, and Lebanon, mostly for food purposes or to be sold as pets. Respected bird conservation organization BirdLife International reported in August 2015 that Israel has the best bird conservation record of all Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries.
Genetic Conservation
Israel's location in the Mideast heartland of genetic
diversity for many major agricultural crops and its
geographical and climatic diversity, have created a
particularly rich ensemble of habitats and corresponding
local varieties. Despite the small size of the country,
it includes one of the largest and most accessible collections
of wild wheat, barley, oat, and legumes in the world,
as well as a wealth of wild fruits and other important
crops from the genus Allium, such as onions, garlic,
leeks and chives.
The importance of preserving Israel's exceptionally
rich plant genetic resources for the improvement of
growth, yield and nutrition, and disease, pest, drought
and salt tolerance of major crop varieties has long
been recognized. As early as 1909, Aaron Aaronson of
the Jewish Agricultural Experiment Station in Haifa,
who discovered wild emmer wheat in Galilee, began collaborating
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a search
for plants, particularly wheat varieties, worthy of
introduction into the United States. Israel's landmark
studies on dynamic in situ conservation of wild wheat
populations have continued to draw considerable international
attention.
Efforts to collect, preserve and evaluate indigenous
plant species are largely concentrated in the Israeli
Gene Bank for Agricultural Crops (IGB) which was set
up in 1979. Scientists from government, academia and
the seed industry have joined forces in the gene bank
to ensure that Israel's native varieties - its genetic
heritage - are not lost to future generations.
The main responsibilities of the IGB include the search
for plants potentially suitable for extraction of beneficial
substances, the collection, preservation, documentation
and evaluation of genetic resources of crop plants and
their relatives, and the development of in situ and
ex situ conservation techniques.
One of the organizations that take an active part in
the IGB network is the National Herbarium of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, the largest collection in the
eastern Mediterranean. Two-thirds of its 500,000 specimens
were collected in the Mediterranean and Middle East
regions. Other collections include a national cloning
repository of landraces of deciduous fruit trees and
rootstocks, spice and medicinal plants and a wild wheat
field laboratory.
When possible, Israel has initiated cooperation with
other scientists in the region, from Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian
Authority, in order to promote the collection of
resources. It has also provided courses and instruction
on plant genetic resources including modern techniques
for collection, preservation and analysis of genetic
material, with the support of international foundations.
Afforestation
By the early 20th century, Israel's
indigenous forests had been almost totally destroyed
by centuries of continuous grazing and cutting of wood.
When Israel was established in 1948, there were fewer
than 5 million trees in the entire area. Today, over
200 million trees have been planted in an active reforestation
program spearheaded by the Jewish National Fund (JNF). The JNF's early plantings
at the beginning of the century were predominantly composed
of evergreens in mountainous areas and of eucalyptus
in the south. In later years, damage from pests and
arboreal diseases led to a new policy of species diversification.
This policy has recently been reinforced by the desire
to cultivate tree species which were once part of the
natural landscape of biblical times, such as varieties
of oak.
While two-thirds of the JNF's afforestation efforts
once focused on the Jerusalem pine, today's forests
feature a wide variety of species: oaks and carobs,
terebinths and cypresses, eucalyptus, Judas trees, acacias,
olive, almond, and many more.
Israel's new afforestation master plan, approved in
1995, reflects the country's growing understanding of
the complementary functions of forests as both areas
of recreation and areas for the conservation of natural
vegetation, biological diversity and open spaces. Accordingly,
afforestation is proposed for sites throughout the country
in accordance with the specific features and needs of
each region. The master plan embraces a total of 162,000
hectares of woodlands and open areas - over 15% of Israel's
total land area north of Be'er Sheva, in which most
of the population is concentrated.
Challenges
in Nature Protection
Of all global problems, it is widely believed
that species extinction can have the most serious consequences
- and it is irreversible. The problem is especially
acute in Israel, whose limited size, momentum of development
and population growth make the protection of precious
natural resources and open space landscapes especially
difficult.
In the small land area of Israel, 3% of the Mediterranean
region and nearly 20% of the desert are protected nature
reserves, many of which overlap military training areas.
In the Mediterranean region, where about 105 declared
nature reserves are dispersed in a total area of 250
square kilometers, the main problem facing nature conservation
is habitat fragmentation. While most of the wildlife
still lives and is protected outside nature reserves,
the decrease in open areas may well make nature reserves
the last stronghold for many species. However, the small
size of most reserves (63% are smaller than one square
kilometer and another 25% are smaller than 10 square
kilometers) makes them vulnerable to impacts from their
surroundings, thus placing the future of the flora,
fauna and ecosystems in the reserves at risk.
It is already clear that protecting migration routes
of birds flying from Europe to Africa is impossible
in such a system and that the protection of many populations
including bats, sand-dwelling reptiles, ungulates, big
predators like wolves and leopards, and other mammals
such as gazelles will be nearly impossible to achieve
within the reserve system. However, outside the reserves,
development, habitat degradation and conflicts with
agriculture and other human activities will also make
it difficult to preserve these populations. Cooperation
and coordination in research, management and development
plans are sorely needed to secure nature conservation
in this region.
In the south of the country, the unique and diverse
desert ecosystem is endangered as well, mainly by pressure
from development plans. Further scientific research
is required to understand the desert ecosystem, explain
the mechanisms involved, and thereafter prescribe the
correct balance of livestock grazing, reintroduction
of extinct wildlife, proper road construction and tourist
accommodation.
Toward a Solution
While awareness of the need to protect natural and
landscape resources has led to the emergence of a significant
system of nature reserves and national parks, the small
size of the country and the heavy pressures on its limited
land resources have left few land reserves. As a result,
protected areas are insufficient to preserve the nature
values, the ecosystems and the unique landscape of this
highly diverse country. While the declaration and development
of additional nature reserves remains a priority, none
of the declared reserves in the Mediterranean area is
large enough to preserve entire ecosystems which encompass
a variety of habitats. One of the country's most important
regions, Mount Carmel, was declared a biosphere reserve
in 1996 within the framework of the Man and Biosphere
Program of UNESCO. Other areas considered appropriate
for declaration as biosphere reserves or international
heritage sites include Mount Meron in the north, the
area encompassing the slopes of the Judean Hills in
the transition zone between the Mediterranean and desert
biomes, and the Dead and Red Sea regions, in cooperation
with neighboring states.
In recent years, concern over the fast disappearance
of the country's open land spaces has led to a number
of new initiatives which are largely aimed at mapping
all of Israel's remaining natural spaces and clarifying
their environmental sensitivity. The planning approach
which is now being advocated calls for directing development
to appropriate areas in ways which will not destroy
the ecosystem, the wildlife and the landscape features
of each of the small but diverse landscape units in
Israel. To provide developers with the necessary conservation
information, a preliminary classification of the entire
open landscape of the country was carried out and recommendations
were made for appropriate levels of protection/development
for each landscape unit in accordance with its value,
importance, sensitivity and vulnerability.
Concomitantly, the INPA, in cooperation with the JNF,
has carried out a project which is meant to help overcome
the problem of habitat fragmentation. The initiative
will help to produce a management plan for the open
landscapes of Israel that considers their potential
to protect biodiversity. The ecosystem assessment will
be based on three guidelines for selecting areas slated
for conservation: the presence of endangered species
and ecosystems in the area, the biodiversity potential
of the area, and the ability of the area to function
well in the future based on such criteria as size, connection
to other areas with corridors that allow distribution
of plants and animals, and the existence of buffer zones
around the area. The plan will make a major contribution
to the conservation of Israel's diverse ecological systems.
Today, ecologists and planners are convinced that a
turning point must be reached in Israel's development
culture. The pioneering philosophy of "conquering
the desert" must be replaced by a philosophy of
open space conservation. The "whys" of such
a policy are self-evident: protecting Israel's precious
natural heritage and biodiversity for the benefit of
present and future generations, maintaining the essential
services provided by natural ecosystems and, not least
of all, providing that most important service of all:
nourishing the heart and soul of tourist and resident
alike with the indefinable grandeur and wonder of nature
itself.
Sources: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |