Some 15,000 youths were busy clearing away underbrush and fallen branches in Jewish National Fund forests last Saturday which was Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish New Year of the Trees. But planting was not allowed because this is a sabbatical year. According to tradition the earth must lay fallow for one year every seven years.
The clean-up project was organized by the JNF and the Nature Reserve Society on the occasion of Nature Reserve Week which began Saturday. The youths came from high schools all over Israel, from Kiryat Shemona on the Lebanese border to Dimona and Arad in the Negev. Their work was important because the accumulation of forest debris during the dry season is often the cause of forest fires in the summer months. After several hours of work, the youngsters were taken on tours by Nature Reserve Society guides.
The JNF currently takes care of about 175,000 acres of planted forests throughout the country and another 75,000 acres of natural forests. It plans to plant an additional 125,000 acres of forest — about 6000 acres annually — over the next few years which will require 25 million saplings grown in JNF nurseries.
In addition to afforestation, the JNF has created five parks extending over 5000 acres and scores of picnic areas in various parts of the country. Present plans call for another four parks and two nature reserves for animals. The JNF is focussing on land reclamation work in the Negev, the Judaean desert, the Dead Sea valley, Arava and Eilat. It plans 14 tourist centers, up to 20 camping sites, 100 lookout pasts and 60 antiquity sites in those areas.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
