As part of a new collaboration between KKL-JNF and the Bedouin community in the Negev, Bedouin youth were appointed to be KKL-JNF forest trustees during a tree planting event at Ben Gurion Park in Dimona. These young people will help protect local parks and forests, and the environment as a whole.
Hundreds of young people from the villages Abu Krinat, Abu Talul, Bir Hadaj and Ksar-a-Ser, all of which are part of the Neve Midbar Regional Council, came this week for a KKL-JNF planting event at
Ben Gurion Park in Dimona, a flourishing green park in the heart of the desert that was developed and made accessible to people of all abilities thanks to the support of friends of
JNF Holland. At the event, students planted herb gardens in the park for the benefit of local residents.
These activities were part of KKL-JNF’s new collaboration with the Bedouin community.
During the event, KKL-JNF Southern Region staff held educational activities on the importance of protecting nature and keeping the forests clean. Afterwards, the young people were appointed to be KKL-JNF forest trustees who took upon themselves to protect and ensure the cleanliness of the new herb garden and their villages.
According to
Oranit Ginat, KKL-JNF Community and Forest Coordinator for the Negev Mountain and Arava Region, “as residents of the Negev, it’s important that we all know how to protect the environment and the flora of the region we live in. Cooperation with the Bedouin sector makes it possible for us to transmit the value of protecting the environment and the forests that KKL-JNF believes in, to the next generation of Negev residents, regardless of religion or race. Only by being in it together will we be able to protect, develop, live and enjoy, in harmony with the forests that we all love.”
Marinet Vaknin, the director of the afterschool clubs in the Neve Midbar Regional Council, said that on this activities day, “we created a connection between the children in the afterschool clubs and 300 schoolchildren from Neve Midbar communities. The children worked together, hoeing, watering, cleaning and participating in activities by the
Dimona Lake. During the event, they learned what KKL-JNF was about and also about the significance of the forests and Dimona Lake. The opportunity to see over 300 children wearing KKL-JNF hats and shirts created the feeling of a moving celebration. I am grateful for KKL-JNF’s initiative and for its contribution to the local schoolchildren.”