Celebrating 120 Years of Vision and Action

The Adopt an Acacia forestry program has been under way in the central Arava region during this decade. Acacia trees that are scattered throughout the Arava give it the unique appearance of a savannah landscape. In recent decades, the population of acacia trees, which are important to the Arava’s ecology and landscape, has suffered significant damage due to the expansion of agricultural land, the diverting of watercourses that the trees depended upon for their water, overpumping of groundwater, and climate change.

Due to this damage, KKL-JNF and the Central Arava Regional Council, in cooperation with the Arava Drainage Authority, began a community environmental project in which the residents plant acacia seedlings to replace trees that have died. Each year, seeds of the acacia trees in various places in the Arava are collected. Every seed gets its own ID card that meticulously documents the place from which it was taken. The seeds are sprouted in KKL-JNF tree nurseries in Gilat, and then planted in their places of origin. Since the first tree was planted in 2009, more than 4,000 acacia trees have been planted in the central Arava. The project took place with the help of the Friends of JNF in Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands.

In its 12th decade, KKL-JNF continued to rehabilitate and nurture the forestry areas by planting trees in order to prevent erosion, save run-off, and prevent undesirable activity in the area. KKL-JNF’s professional staff created a professional infrastructure to care for the forests by instituting policy, issuing professional guidelines, providing work tools and advanced methods, and coordinating information in a variety of professional fields. Over this decade, KKL-JNF rehabilitated and rejuvenated the long-standing Jerusalem pine forests that had reached the end of their first growth cycle or had been damaged by fire. As part of this effort, about 1,030 acres were replanted in the Gilboa Forest, Givat HaMoreh, Menahemia, and Lavi in sections of forests that were fifty to sixty years old in order to attract visitors and tourists to the northern region and preserve the forest and its environment.

The second generation of the forest was designed as a multi-species, multi-age, and multi-layer sustainable forest in accordance with KKL-JNF’s forestry doctrine. These plantings made use of high-quality seedlings that had been raised in the Northern District plant nursery at the Golani Junction. In the planting stage, use was also made of supplementary watering by drip irrigation in order to accelerate the pace of the seedlings’ growth. Individual protection from grazing cattle was also used to protect broadleaf species such as oaks, terebinths, and carobs. The method of planting provides the second-generation forests with high resistance to various stresses that are expected to be caused by climate change in our region, particularly ongoing drought and forest fires. The forests are expected to serve as a rich habitat for a variety of fauna and birds that can attract visitors with their beauty.

KKL-JNF also carried out sustainable management of Israel’s forests in order to serve a variety of ecosystems, together with protecting the biodiversity that is unique to this country. In order to do this, it drew up master plans and created a multi-year forest management program based on principles of its forest-management doctrine, as well as subject-related master plans for preserving natural resources and unique habitats in the forest. It also defined professional procedures for preserving protected natural resources during forest management work (such as thinning, planting, among other activities).

KKL-JNF allocated large amounts of resources to protect the forests and groves from fires. On-call teams and fire-spotters were on alert at all times, and buffer lines were made in forests located near residential areas in order to reduce the amount of flammable material that was present there. The number of firefighting vehicles specially adapted for travel within forests increased during this decade, thanks to friends of KKL-JNF all over the world who helped to purchase new ones. Collaborations were also formed between KKL-JNF forestry experts and experts in firefighting from the United States Forest Service, the Australian Forest Service, and professionals in Spain and other countries.

Another shift that characterized KKL-JNF’s 12th decade was the change in approach to the ecological rehabilitation of forests that had been damaged by fire. Unlike in the past, the major principle in forest rehabilitation became based on the ecosystem’s own natural rejuvenation processes, with human intervention taking place only when there was no alternative. The thinning of pine seedlings, which sometimes take over areas after forest fires, could not be avoided. If it is necessary to add trees, seedlings of broadleaf species and vegetation that assists in preventing soil erosion from the slopes are planted.

KKL-JNF is a major partner in the creation of Be’er Sheva River Park, a large metropolitan park that covers an area of approximately 1,100 acres. The park, whose development will continue during the next decade of KKL-JNF’s work, contains hiking trails and bicycle paths, places for picnics, lawns, and a large artificial lake that covers an area of about 24 acres. There are also archaeological sites, the Turkish railway bridge, and the Beit Eshel outpost, which was meticulously restored.

Other parks that received an upgrade during this decade were Yeruham Park and Golda Park in the Negev.

The special KKL-JNF garden project was on the organization's activities map during the second half of its 12th decade. By the end of the decade, KKL-JNF had participated in the creation of 79 gardens, whose purpose was to encourage the use of the public space in communities located on Israel’s geographic and social periphery along with strengthening social cohesion.

In 2019, KKL-JNF dedicated its third innovative visitors’ center at Hula Lake Park. This visitors’ center contains, among other things, a virtual reality station in which visitors can feel, using special glasses, that they are part of a flock of cranes flying in Israel’s skies. A sophisticated model shows Hula Lake and the way it was created, and an innovative globe displays worldwide migration routes. The center contains a large auditorium in which visitors can view films about the lake, and in the future, it will be used as a theater where residents of the north can enjoy films and performances.

The visitors’ center at Hula Lake Park, which was constructed with assistance from JNF Canada, was dedicated in 2019 in the presence of former Canadian prime minister Stephen J. Harper, who helped to advance the project and contributed to it personally.

KKL-JNF led a revolution in the field of bicycling in forests and parks during its 12th decade by paving dozens of bicycle paths (singles) at a total length of 2,000 kilometers, placing directional signs alongside them, and establishing a dedicated website where cyclists can find all the information about them. Among these bicycle paths are the Resh Lakish (Lower Galilee), Rom Gilboa, Shimshit, Solelim Forest, Naftali Mountain, Katzrin, Shvili Ron, Misgav, Ga’aton-Kabri, Sovev Kinneret, and Timrat Mountain Biking Trails. KKL-JNF is also a partner in the creation of the Israel National Bike Trail, whose paving began during this decade.

At the end of the decade, KKL-JNF worked to prevent the use of disposable plastic items in its forests, and began a large-scale public campaign on this topic. It also began placing signs in forests and parks reminding visitors not to leave trash, particularly disposable plastic items, and developed an interactive online game encouraging people to avoid using them.

Among the locations where KKL-JNF Wings holds its activities are the international birdwatching site at Hula Lake Park, the KKL-JNF Wings complex at the fish ponds of Kibbutz Nahsholim, the Rosh Tzippor Birdwatching Center at the Yarkon, Hefer Lake, the Vickar Birdwatching Observation Deck at the Kibbutz Mishmar HaSharon Reservoir (Nahal Alexander), the Kfar Baruch Reservoir at Nahal Kishon, the KKL-JNF Wings site at Nahal Be’er Sheva, the KKL-JNF Wings complex at Ein Ramon (the Lahav Forest), the KKL-JNF Wings site at Yeruham Park, the KKL-JNF Wings site on Kibbutz Lotan in the Arava Region, and the international birdwatching site in Eilat Ornithological Park.

In the last three years of the decade, KKL-JNF has held its Birdathon – Israel’s largest birdwatching event – during the Sukkot festival. This is a competitive marathon that lasts for an entire day, during which teams of birdwatchers try to identify as many bird species as they can. During the Birdathon, the winning photograph is chosen in cooperation with the Israel Nature Photography Association. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a digital Birdathon was held in the last year of the decade. Throughout the day, 75,000 visits to the Birdathon website were recorded, and later on there were 250,000 visits by visitors who chose the winning photograph in the Audience Award category.

One of the goals of KKL-JNF’s master plan for biking is the connection of biking paths to the centers of communities and making biking paths accessible. In an innovative and unique move, KKL-JNF became the only organization in the world to prepare a plan with a nationwide vision that regards biking as part of the management of forests and open spaces. KKL-JNF’s activity in the field of creating bike paths, which has led to revolution in the field of mountain biking in Israel and the mountain-biking community, has won great admiration from the biking public, which takes advantage of the increasing number of biking paths in forests and parks.

During the current decade, KKL-JNF advanced the national master plan to triple the number of bike paths to be built in the future to a total length of 6,000 kilometers. Half of these paths are in forest, and half connect the forests to nearby communities.

At the beginning of the decade, hedgerows of the sabra cactus (prickly pear) in the north began to suffer damage at a rapid rate. Investigations showed that the damage was being caused by an aphid known as Dactylopius opuntiae. KKL-JNF’s Forestry Division cooperated with Professor Zvi Mendel of the Volcani Institute’s Agricultural Research Organization to eradicate the aphid. The study showed that a species of ladybug (a beetle) and a species of fly were the natural enemies of this aphid. Populations of them were dispersed throughout Israel, and all the indications show that this has had a positive effect.

In the latter part of the decade, KKL-JNF’s chief scientist expanded KKL-JNF’s areas of research to include a broad spectrum of environmental subjects. During this period, seventeen new studies that deal with subjects such as climate change, renewable energy, stream rehabilitation, and winter pools have been launched. For example, one study that made progress during this decade deals with storing renewable energy and with dual use of agricultural land for crops and the creation of renewable energy.

KKL-JNF also supported the purchase of equipment for developing a vaccination against COVID-19, an endeavor that has been undertaken by the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute in Kiryat Shmona and the Shamir Research Institute. The MIGAL institute developed a vaccine against bird flu in the past, and its researchers plan to use this knowledge to develop a vaccine against COVID-19, which affects human beings.

In the Jordan River Village, a unique overnight camp for children living with chronic and life-threatening illnesses, KKL-JNF, with support from JNF Australia, created a scientific-sensory garden. The village, located near Givat Avni in the Lower Galilee, covers an area of over 60 acres. The garden contains special playground equipment that is accessible to children with various disabilities.

In accordance with the the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law that was amended by the Knesset during this decade, KKL-JNF views as important the provision of equal service to the population in general, and to people with disabilities in particular, not only in the forests and parks, but also in its structures and the websites under its management. For this purpose, it has endeavored to carry out all the required adaptations on sites on the ground and also on its websites and contact interfaces with the public.

As part of its desire to contribute to the creation of new jobs in communities in the peripheral regions, KKL-JNF assisted over the past decade in the development of rural accommodations in communities in the Arava, including Yahel, Lotan, Timna Park, Neot Smadar, Arandal Ranch, Zukim, and the communities in the Tamar Regional Council on the shore of the Dead Sea.

During its 12th decade, KKL-JNF mobilized in support of the communities on the Gaza periphery and the cities of Netivot and Sderot, which suffered from prolonged terrorism of rocket fire, incendiary kites, and explosive kites. The assistance, in which a large quantity of resources was invested, included infrastructure development, the preparation of land for agriculture and housing, laying the groundwork for bike paths that connect the communities to one another, the development of the forests in the region, and the rehabilitation and preparation of agricultural and security roads. In times of hardship, KKL-JNF hosted the residents of the region in field and forest centers in central Israel and northward, enabling them to experience a lull in the rocket fire.

KKL-JNF established a medical clinic in Sderot that operates via the Ezra LeMarpe Association headed by Rabbi Avraham Elimelech Firer. The center provides physical and psychological rehabilitation services to residents of the Gaza periphery region who suffer from physical injury and PTSD that stems from the difficult security situation that has existed in the region for a long time.

Another interesting project in which KKL-JNF has been participating is the Furrows in the Desert (FID) Project, which was run in the arid region of Turkana, in Kenya, in cooperation with the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA, Kenya), the Caritas Lodwar humanitarian organization, and the farmers’ association of Turkana. The project presented an agricultural development plan for northern Turkana as a source of nutritional security and as an income-producing activity via marketing agricultural produce. The initiative gave farmers solar resources, each of which could supply water to thirty family-owned date orchards. Furrows in the Desert is an example of agricultural use of Israeli techniques in the developing world in order to improve the residents’ nutritional security. Following the success of this program, KKL-JNF is planning additional activities in Kenya.

Delegations of KKL-JNF personnel attended international conferences in Israel and all over the world during the decade, where they presented the knowledge and professional techniques that they had accumulated over the years in the field of forestry in arid regions, soil preservation, rehabilitation of desertified ecosystems, and preparation for climate change. KKL-JNF representatives attended UN conferences on climate change, during which collaborations were formed between them and delegates from many other countries who expressed interest in the content that was presented at the KKL-JNF booth.

Another important conference dealing with climate change was held in 2019 in Cuba. At this conference, which was organized by professionals in science, technology, and Cuba’s environment and attended by 400 people from 30 countries, KKL-JNF’s chief scientist, Dr. Doron Markel, presented Israel’s preparation for climate change in terms of forestry and the water economy. This was the first time since diplomatic relations between Israel and Cuba were broken off in 1973 that an Israeli scientist attended an official conference in that country, which still does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

By the end of the decade, two KKL-JNF Houses began operating in Nof HaGalil and in Kiryat Malakhi. The KKL-JNF House in Nof HaGalil has already led to an increase of dozens of percentage points in matriculation examination scores in the core subjects.

As part of the informal education that it provides, KKL-JNF increased its involvement with the Israel National Council for the Child and youth organizations when it published its strategic plan, entitled Magshimim Akhshav, which is based on the view that each person, as an individual and as part of society, deserves to fulfill his or her dreams and inherent potential. The program was launched in 2016, and 54 leadership groups of teenagers from communities in the Negev and the Galilee were formed within three months. More than five thousand teenagers from the peripheral regions were introduced to year-long volunteer tracks, and since then more than 30,000 young people have participated in events that were held in the spirit of KKL-JNF’s values. The purpose of the program is to strengthen the teenagers’ sense of belonging to Israel and to their communities, influence the educational discourse about Zionist values, and train alumni of youth organizations to be part of the leadership that will play a leading role, exert influence, and achieve important goals in Israeli society.

As part of its educational network, KKL-JNF completed, during this decade, the development of its field and forest centers as focal points of education and recreation in Yatir Forest, Shuni Forest, Lavi Forest, Zippori Forest, and Nes Harim Forest. These centers, which accommodated hundreds of thousands of young people over the decade, serve as bases for field training and annual trips, accommodation for youth movements and organizations, pre-military academies, and young people from abroad.

The field centers are prepared to accommodate guests in tents, and some of them have wooden cabins. They have field kitchens and dining rooms, showers, a refrigerator, attached restrooms and air conditioning. The centers are surrounded by fences and guarded, and areas have been prepared for outdoor lodging and camp activities, outdoor and indoor classes, sports and recreation equipment and places to sit in the shade of the trees, which enable experiential learning alongside outdoor activity. The content of the activity in the field centers has been adapted to the modern era. One example of this is “Haviya’ar,” an independent orienteering game that is based on the use of a smartphone, navigation using aerial images, and online activity in KKL-JNF’s core subjects.

In addition to its work in Israel, KKL-JNF’s Education Division also worked intensively during this decade among Diaspora Jewry, holding hundreds of educational activities that contributed to closer relations with world Jewry. Hundreds of thousands of young people from abroad participated in activities in Israel. Approximately 3,500 young people participated in the March of the Living, a journey from the Holocaust to the rebirth of Israel that begins in Poland during the week on which Holocaust Remembrance Day falls and ends on Independence Day in Israel. The teenagers began by visiting Poland and ended with a hike along KKL-JNF’s trails and a salute to the State of Israel at the Western Wall and at Latrun.

Young people from Russian-speaking communities participated in many other activities. These included activities to encourage immigration in partnership with the World Betar Movement and activities with Jewish youth movements, including Habonim Dror, Betar, HaNoar HaTzioni, HeHalutz LaMerhav, HaShomer HaTza’ir, Maccabi Tza’ir, Tnuat Noam–Hazit HaNoar, Netzer Olami, Bnei Akiva, Netzh, Tze’irei Ami, Dor Hadash, Kinneret Youth Movement, Hineni Yahad and FZY.

One example of this is the opening celebrations for KKL-JNF’s 120th anniversary, with a series of musical events in the Ben Shemen Forest in August 2020. After a period of time in which no events could be held in Israel in general and in the forests in particular, KKL-JNF held an event in the amphitheater that conformed to the Ministry of Health’s regulations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. KKL-JNF was the first organization to invite the public to cultural events, which were a resounding success.

Before the other cultural venues in Israel were opened, Israel’s top artists answered the call to perform once again for the audiences who missed them, and for two weeks the Ben Shemen Forest was transformed into a music center in Israel. The public’s willingness to come to performances in the forest was above and beyond, and KKL-JNF takes pride in the opportunity it was given to bring cultural activity in Israel back to life after a long period of inactivity that had been forced upon it. These activities gave joy to the culture-loving public who came to celebrate in the Ben Shemen Forest and with the artists, all of whom repeatedly said during the shows how excited they were to return to performing and meeting the audience, along with expressing their great gratitude to KKL-JNF for the opportunity.

Over the ensuing months, KKL-JNF continued to hold a variety of events and hikes, according to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, in forests and parks, which helped the public to overcome the difficulties of this challenging period.