Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael

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KKL-JNF's Afforestation Work

Israel's forests and parks were not always here. The first Jewish settlers in the country, at the end of the 19th century, found a desolate land with not a mite of shade.

Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to purchase land in Eretz Israel on behalf of and for the Jewish People. In 1904, in addition to this work, it embarked on a project to plant olive trees on the lands of Ben Shemen and Hulda, which it had recently purchased. The idea was to plant top-quality, fruit-bearing trees for which there was demand.

And so began KKL-JNF's foray into afforestation, an endeavor that continues to this day. In almost a century of hard work, KKL-JNF has planted more than 200 million trees on more than 900,000 dunams (225,000 acres; 90,000 ha) of land.

The aims of afforestation have changed with the times. In the past, it came to meet immediate needs, such as defense of extensive land tracts and soil conservation. Today, it serves a wide range of purposes, such as improving environmental quality (by serving as "green lungs"), providing outdoor leisure and recreation sites, supplying wood, and upgrading range lands.

KKL-JNF is Israel's exclusive forestry agency, by virtue of the 1961 Covenant it signed with the Government. Its activity in this realm includes:

New plantings
Forest maintenance
Forest protection
Boosting quality of life and of the environment

KKL-JNF's Planting Modes

The nature of the planting depends on the specific area involved. Israel's territory is made up of two distinct climatic regions: Mediterranean and semi-arid. Each climatic region affects the nature of planting, including tree species and forest management. Adapting forests to environmental conditions assures long-term survival.

Today's plantings are carried out on two types of ground:
- New forest areas: where no forest existed previously.
- Regenerative areas: where an existing forest had been cut down because of damage to the trees. Such damage may be due to pests, drought, fire or snow.

Recent years have seen a great reduction in the scope of new plantings in the northern and central parts of the country. Most of the plantings in these areas are for regenerative purposes, as a result of damage caused to the trees over the years, which ended with the trees being felled.

New plantings

KKL-JNF plants trees in response to a variety of needs: for scenic purposes, to protect national land, to roll back the desert, to conserve soil, to anchor sands, for municipal landscaping, to repair and improve road sides, for grazing purposes and landscaping at frontier communities and military bases.

Forest maintenance

Ongoing maintenance of planted forests and natural scrub includes pruning, to permit access; thinning, to adapt the number of trees to an area's capacity; general health care and forest road maintenance.

To help it plan its forest management, KKL-JNF conducts various studies and surveys for a better understanding of tree growth processes and in order to deal with disease and pests.

Forest protection

To protect forests, KKL-JNF has instituted and maintains fire-fighting measures which include manned watchtowers, alert squads and fire-fighting engines.

It is also responsible for clearing the ground of weeds, spraying against pests and disease, and preventing illegal felling.

All of its forestry work derives from its commitment to the National Master Plan for Forests and Afforestation (NMP 22), which was drafted by KKL-JNF, the Israel Lands Administration, the Interior and Environment ministries, etc., and approved by the Government of Israel in 1995.

Boosting quality of life and of the environment

Among other things, KKL-JNF develops regional parks and forest recreation areas, builds forest roads and trails, creates infrastructure, restores historical sites, rehabilitates springs and river ways, and encourages commercial ventures in its forests.

Sept. 11 Forest

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