For over 100 years, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) has been making Israel a greener, friendlier place by planting millions of trees on public land around the country.
Though Israel still has plenty of open space for sprouting new forests, the organization founded by Benyamin Ze’ev Herzl in 1901, has set up a special project to preserve and protect some of the country’s old, historic trees.
As much of the country’s landscape gets bulldozed for development, thousands of trees, many with unique historic or botanic significance, are in danger of being uprooted and destroyed.
To prevent the loss of the trees, the JNF, in conjunction with the agriculture ministry and a private group of gardeners and landscapers, has launched a public campaign to encourage “tree preservation.” The campaign is modeled on efforts by historical associations to ensure that important historic or architectural structures get spared the wrecker’s ball.
The National Parks Authority and an agency for preserving historical sites have also joined forces for the sake of the nation’s historic trees.
Under the program, the JNF will work to confer special status on thousands of trees that will protect them from bulldozers or simple neglect.
The head of the landscape gardeners’ association, Hezi Muloh, said that Israel has thousands of old trees that are in danger of being uprooted, or dying of neglect. Old trees form an integral part of the country’s tradition and history and must not be allowed to disappear from the landscape, he said.
Some of the trees slated for preservation were planted long before the JNF set out on its Zionist quest to make Israel a prettier, greener place. The organization, for example, will immediately attempt to save a katlav tree on the Mt. Of Olives that is in danger of dying unless it gets urgent attention.
The coalition of tree preservationists is also attempting to save a large, and especially beautiful ficus tree that has been growing for a few hundred years at the Holon interchange. That tree was slated for uprooting as part of a plan to make room for a wider highway. But if the group has its way, the road planning authorities will have to redesign the interchange to keep it in place.
If they succeed, the tree will stay rooted, and hopefully, adapt to the exhaust fumes of post-Zionist, 21st century, modern Israeli motorists.
If you have a tree you’d like to protect, you can call the organization of landscape gardeners at 03-908-0234, or e-mail them at oldtrees@gardening.org.il.
Though Israel still has plenty of open space for sprouting new forests, the organization founded by Benyamin Ze’ev Herzl in 1901, has set up a special project to preserve and protect some of the country’s old, historic trees.
As much of the country’s landscape gets bulldozed for development, thousands of trees, many with unique historic or botanic significance, are in danger of being uprooted and destroyed.
To prevent the loss of the trees, the JNF, in conjunction with the agriculture ministry and a private group of gardeners and landscapers, has launched a public campaign to encourage “tree preservation.” The campaign is modeled on efforts by historical associations to ensure that important historic or architectural structures get spared the wrecker’s ball.
The National Parks Authority and an agency for preserving historical sites have also joined forces for the sake of the nation’s historic trees.
Under the program, the JNF will work to confer special status on thousands of trees that will protect them from bulldozers or simple neglect.
The head of the landscape gardeners’ association, Hezi Muloh, said that Israel has thousands of old trees that are in danger of being uprooted, or dying of neglect. Old trees form an integral part of the country’s tradition and history and must not be allowed to disappear from the landscape, he said.
Some of the trees slated for preservation were planted long before the JNF set out on its Zionist quest to make Israel a prettier, greener place. The organization, for example, will immediately attempt to save a katlav tree on the Mt. Of Olives that is in danger of dying unless it gets urgent attention.
The coalition of tree preservationists is also attempting to save a large, and especially beautiful ficus tree that has been growing for a few hundred years at the Holon interchange. That tree was slated for uprooting as part of a plan to make room for a wider highway. But if the group has its way, the road planning authorities will have to redesign the interchange to keep it in place.
If they succeed, the tree will stay rooted, and hopefully, adapt to the exhaust fumes of post-Zionist, 21st century, modern Israeli motorists.
If you have a tree you’d like to protect, you can call the organization of landscape gardeners at 03-908-0234, or e-mail them at oldtrees@gardening.org.il.