JNF announces nationwide plan for fire protection
At the Climate Conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, KKL – JNF announced two new projects: a nationwide plan for buffer zones for fire protection and a plan for the restoration plan of the burned forest in the Jerusalem mountains.
Jerusalem fires
KKL-JNF’s Chief forester, Dr. Gilad Ostrovsky, held a lecture at a UN side event at the conference on Friday where he revealed the two programs.
The fire protection program will include anationwide mapping of buffer zones around settlements. The plan will contain a fire protection plan for each forest that will include planning designated areas for fire protection, ways to move forces and water filling points. In addition, dedicated forestry treatments will be carried out to contain fires, such as thinning, pruning, treatment of lying wood materials, changing the composition of species, irrigation.
The plan for the restoration of the Jerusalem Mountains will include treatment of the damaged forest areas and actions to rehabilitate the forest. The plan to restore the land in the Jerusalem mountains will first include immediate action to eliminate hazards for the safety of travellers in the forest areas.
In the second phase, action will be taken to treat the damaged forest areas with an ecological vision that ensures the preservation of the soil and the recovery of the grassy and stunted vegetation. Finally, operations will be carried out to renew the forest.
Gilad Ostrovsky is KKL-JNF’s chief forester and director of the KKL-JNF forestry department.
He said: “The climate change crisis led us to focus on fire prevention and forest restoration as primary goals. Our managements methods based on smart intervention and we conduct ecological surveys in order to protect natural assets in the forest”
