Two huge wildfires that raged in the mountains of Jerusalem in the area of Canada Park and Eshtaol in recent days left extensive devastation in nature reserves and forests.
In the second wildfire, which centered upon Canada Park, a total of about 20,000 dunam had burned, of which about 10,000 dunam of forests were under KKL-JNF management. In the first wildfire about 6,000 dunam had burned, of which about 4,000 dunam of forests were under KKL-JNF management.
Keren Kayemet Le-Israel – Jewish National Fund estimates that about two-thirds of the areas that burned in both wildfires were forests under its management – forests that burned down entirely and which will require many years of restoration.
Ifat Ovadia-Luski, KKL-JNF Chairwoman: "Extensive forested areas were burned in Canada Park, which had been planted over the course of decades and was the pride of the central region. Unfortunately, this is the year in which we experienced wildfires throughout Israel as a result of the war as well. We believe in the restorative power of nature and in our ability at KKL-JNF to lead an innovative restoration process that returns the beloved nature reserves back to the public at large."