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 coupled with 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 Hulah 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 Hulah habitat, but the birth of Israel's nature protection movement.

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 2,800 plant species (150 of which are indigenous to Israel), 8 amphibian, 80 reptile, 380 bird and 70 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.

Israel is also a main migration route for palearctic birds and the only terrestrial meeting point for organisms from Europe, Asia and Africa. Over 150 million birds follow the migration route through Israel in spring and fall.

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 in Israel that by the beginning of the 1960s, many of the more attractive flowering plants were on the brink of extinction. Anemones and cyclamens, 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 the rich splendor of wildflowers.

Perhaps more than any other organization, the SPNI has been instrumental in raising public consciousness of nature and environmental protection in Israel. 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 Israel's natural legacy and to promote nature conservation, it has set up an excellent educational network with 26 field study centers, 40 branches and community centers, hundreds of youth clubs and comprehensive teacher training programs. Today, the SPNI is Israel's largest environmental non-governmental organization. Through its broad-based program of education, conservation, research and public action, it involves nearly twenty percent of Israel's population 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 Israel. One of the primary mandates of the Nature Reserves Authority, established in 1964, 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. Together, the existing 155 nature reserves (a similar number is currently undergoing various stages of declaration) represent the entire spectrum of Israel's natural heritage, including Mediterranean forests, seaside landscapes, sand dunes, water landscapes, desert and crater landscapes, and oases.

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. Species now being raised for future release into the wild include the white oryx, ostrich, Persian fallow deer, roe deer and Asiatic wild ass. Recently, a modern breeding center for predators such as foxes, wolves, hyenas and wild cats was added.

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 such as Allium.

The importance of preserving Israel's exceptionally rich plant genetic resources for the improvement of growth, yield, 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, the discoverer of wild emmer wheat in the 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 in wild wheat populations have continued to draw considerable international attention.

Efforts to collect, preserve and evaluate plant species indigenous to Israel are largely concentrated in the Israeli Gene Bank for Agricultural Crops which was set up in 1979. Scientists from government, academia and Israel's 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.

Israel is also an active partner in a landmark initiative on genetic resource conservation launched by the European Union to foster the advancement of the Middle East peace process. This Peace Campus Project aims to formulate strategies and approaches for conserving genetic materials in reserve areas throughout the region. In Israel, efforts are focusing on an existing site in the upper Galilee where scientists have been studying the genetic diversity and population dynamics of wild emmer wheat as a model of dynamic gene preservation for about a decade. A second project will witness the development of the Galilee Biblical Fruit Tree National Park which will combine genetic conservation and tourism. Local varieties of trees and plants found in the Bible, with particular adaptations to climate, soils, pests and diseases, have been chosen for planting in the park. These include 75 fig, 40 grape, 35 pomegranate, and other fruit varieties.

Afforestation

By the early 20th century Israel's indigenous forests had been almost totally destroyed by centuries of continuous grazing and, in this and in the last century, by the search for wood. When the country was first established in 1948, there were fewer than 5 million trees in the entire area. Today, over 200 million trees have been planted due to 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 Israel, such as various kinds of oak. While two-thirds of 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 diminutive 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 km², the main problem facing nature conservation is habitat fragmentation. While most of the wildlife of Israel 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 1 km² and another 25% are smaller than 10 km²) 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 Israeli 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. Only one area in Israel - Mount Meron - has recently been declared a biosphere reserve (within the framework of the Man and Biosphere Program of UNESCO) and is able to preserve a variety of ecosystems.

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 Nature Reserves Authority, in cooperation with the Jewish National Fund, has initiated a project which is meant to help overcome the problem of habitat fragmentation. The new initiative is expected 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.