At least NIS 100 million (nearly $28 million) will be needed to rehabilitate nature sites in northern Israel, where 223,000 dunams (over 55,000 acres) have been burned by fires caused by rockets and other projectiles fired from Lebanon by the Hezbollah terror group, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority said.
The details came as the authority released an annual roundup of a year of conservation efforts that have been dominated by the effects of the war.
Most of the fires occurred in the Golan Heights, where some 127,000 dunams, or more than 30,000 acres were burned, according to the state organization, with 71,000 dunams (17,500 acres) set ablaze in the Upper Galilee, 23,000 (5,700 acres) in the Lower Galilee, and 2,200 (540 acres) in the Carmel area.
Out of a countrywide total of 374,000 dunams (92,400 acres) set on fire this year, 112,500 dunams (27,800 acres) were in the West Bank, mainly due to arson, the agency said.
The fire damage in the north and along the Gaza border has been compounded by military activity such as the cutting of new roads and the compacting of soils by heavy IDF vehicles and machinery.
In the year end roundup on Tuesday, CEO Raya Shourky also mourned the death of the organization’s accountant, Maj. (res.) Netanel Hershkovitz, who was killed fighting in Gaza in October. INPA employee Ohad Yahalomi is still in captivity in the Strip.
The war started on October, 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel from Gaza, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostages. The following day, Hezbollah in Lebanon began firing rockets into northern Israel.
Because of the wars in Gaza and the northern border, the authority saw a 70% drop in income generated from visitors to its parks.
The Finance Ministry agreed on compensation of NIS 142 million ($40 million) in return for efficiency cuts of NIS 75 million ($21 million).
Israel’s first National Marine Park at Caesarea in northern Israel, announced by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the Planning Administration, on November 25, 2024. (Guy Levian, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
On the positive side, the year saw the authority declare 102,710 dunams (25,400 acres) of new nature reserves and national parks, and an investment of NIS 60 million ($16.7 million) in refurbishments. Three years of renovations concluded at the Ein Yehuda National Park in northern Israel, where three bathing pools with turquoise waters await visitors in the coming summer. Other projects included restoring an old bathing house at the Hamat Tiberias National Park, also in the north, and works at the Qasr al-Yahud baptismal site on the Jordan River, which include a new deck on the riverbank.
The number of sea turtle nests on Israeli beaches hit a record of 609 this year, up 53 percent from last year.
A griffon vulture in flight. (Adi Ashkenazi)
The griffon vulture population, on whose protection and growth the authority invests substantial money and time, stood at 170 individuals.
During the year, a record 166 eagles were tagged and released, nine died of poisoning, and a major raising awareness campaign was held in the Bedouin community. The latter was made in a bid to stop farmers from poisoning carcasses to kill predatory dogs so as to protect livestock flocks. As eaters of carrion, vultures are attracted to such carcasses and poisoned to death as a result.
Rangers counted 46 griffon vulture nests, most of them in the Negev mountains and Judean Desert, reflecting a certain recovery after two years during which the population suffered from electrocution, poisoning and human disturbance.
In the Carmel hills in northern Israel, the vulture population remained stable, amid slow, but long-term growth resulting from intensive conservation efforts.
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