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June 22, 2007
Managing environmental woes
Israel and the JNF support biodiversity and are at the forefront
of ecological protection.
EDGAR ASHER ISRANET
The environment is now an issue that concerns every government
and every individual. This year, more than any other, global warming
and the environment have taken centre stage in all international
forums.
Ever since the foundation of the state of Israel, there has been
an active movement in the country to manage the land and combat
desertification. With more than two-thirds of Israel being desert,
the struggle to prevent the degradation of the parts of the land
that receive less than 250 millimetres of annual rainfall has continued
unabated.
Desertification is universally attributed to such human activities
as deforestation, over-grazing, over-cultivation and poor irrigation.
It is accepted by most international bodies involved with environmental
problems that Israel is one of the leading countries in the world
for research against desertification, and also putting into practice
the lessons learned.
Land degradation is a serious problem in the Negev. In the past,
overgrazing and over-cultivation, combined with urban expansion,
have taken their toll on the fragile desert ecosystem. Today, under
the leadership of the Jewish National Fund, the biodiversity of
the region is slowly returning as scientists begin to understand
the way the desert functions and nature is given a helping hand
to bring the land back to a more natural balance.
The JNF operates three main nurseries in Israel: in the north, centre
and south. The most southern of these, the Gilat nursery, to the
west of the northern Negev city of Be'ersheva, is the nursery most
involved with the propagation of trees and plants for the south
of the country - from Ashdod, which has an average annual rainfall
of 210 millimetres, to Eilat on the Red Sea, with only 20 millimetres
of annual rainfall.
Pablo Chercasky is an agricultural engineer and is the director
of the Gilat nursery. Chercasky is proud of his huge "garden"
and showed off just one of the young tree saplings that have been
nurtured in a specially designed Israeli seed box that encourages
the roots to grow downwards in search of water. One day, this sapling
will be replanted, helping to push back the desert to prevent desertification.
The Gilat nursery covers some 200 dunams (50 acres) and visitors
are met with the spectacle of thousands of trees and shrubs being
cultivated to be replanted in forests, towns and cities all over
Israel. Every year, Gilat supplies more than 100,000 trees and plants,
free of charge, to public parks, army bases, new urban areas, forests
and land reclamation projects. Sections of the nursery are redolent
with sweet-smelling shrubs grown to be transplanted into areas of
the Negev that need to attract bees for pollination. But one of
the main aims of the Gilat operation is to produce trees and plants
that can exist in a desert climate, using only water that comes
from natural rainfall.
In Israel, the rainfall comes in the winter and early spring, so
there is no meaningful rainfall from late May until around mid-October.
Native desert trees, such as various species of eucalyptus and acacia,
can exist quite happily in this climate, with their roots going
deep into the ground in search of water during periods of drought.
Yitzhak Moshe is a soil and water planner, as well as being the
deputy director of the JNF's southern region. "Long-term research
in Israel has shown that ecologically sound management of semi-arid
lands can halt or even reverse desertification processes,"
he explained. Moshe is part of the JNF team that is trying to maximize
the use of the annual rainfall in any given area, so that soil erosion
can be halted and controlled grazing can be carried out. This is
especially true of the northern Negev grassy savannah, which has
a rich ecology and biodiversity.
"The desert is full of life and we have to learn how to manage
and maintain a healthy desert," said Moshe, "in just the
way the ancient farmers, like the Nabateans, used to do."
Moshe demonstrated, in the Yatir Forest, some 20 kilometres northwest
of Be'ersheva, how small earth dams, known as limans, trap the heavy,
short-lived, winter flash floods and allow the runoff to gently
flow over the limans and permeate slowly into the ground at that
same place. Thus trees, such as acacia, will thrive and develop.
Just a metre or two below the top soil, the trees' roots will be
able to find moist nutrients the whole year round.
The limans will also prevent the erosion of the top soil, which
in turn will encourage the growth of shrubs for grazing and wild
animals. The area of the limans will be the catalyst for future
forests as, little by little, the groups of trees and vegetation
join together. Trees that were originally planted as saplings and
have reached maturity are methodically cut down under supervision
after several years to ensure that the forest does not become so
dense that there is not enough light, water and nutrient. This sustainable
forest management enables the local Bedouin communities to have
a regular supply of wood for building and creating fires for cooking.
There is also less fire hazard in a properly managed forest, as
limited grazing keeps down dry vegetation, which can be a fire hazard,
particularly in the hot summer.
The Yatir Forest is geographically the most southern forest in Europe
and, at 30 square kilometres, is the largest forest in the country.
Thousands of trees have been replanted in this area to bring it
back to what it probably was in ancient times. Today, there are
more than four million trees, mostly coniferous and Jerusalem Pine.
Other varieties include terebinth, tamarisk, eucalyptus and acacia.
Vines are also found here and are used to produce the local Yatir
wines.
In the centre of the forest rises an 80-metre-high micrometeorological
tower, used to measure exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor
and energy between the forest's terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere.
The data is collected from sensors up to one kilometre away from
the tower, with the tower itself having more than 100 different
sensors. The research, led by Prof. Dan Yakir of the Weizmann Institute
of Science, is in collaboration with several researchers from other
Israeli universities and has been underway for the past six years.
Global warming and human mismanagement of our ecology has meant
that, each year, half a million hectares is turning into desert.
It is estimated that desertification threatens one billion people
living in 100 arid countries. Historic records show that many of
the world's regions that were once flourishing forests and supported
agriculture were over-farmed and denuded of trees. The JNF, by using
the most modern methods, is adding to the understanding of our fragile
planet and sharing the results of its research and practical activity
for the benefit of all who seek its experience.
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