Wed, Oct 10: About 200 retirees in Lions Israel engaged in volunteer work in Be’eri Forest near the Gaza Border. The volunteers cleared away cuttings, with the goal of reducing fire against the background of arson from Gaza sweeping through the region in the past months.
“The goal of volunteering is to contribute through action, as well as to send a message to the residents of the Gaza border region that we are with them,” said Dr.
Shoshana Nissim, District governor of Lions Israel.
Avi Yanous, branch director of education at the Eshkol Regional Council, came to welcome those present and thank them for their activity. “It’s heartwarming to meet you here in our beautiful region of the country, your work helps us and also strengthens our spirit.”
Dozens of
incendiary kites and balloons are being launched by terrorists across the border every day, towards the forests, nature reserves, and agricultural fields on the Israeli side. KKL-JNF’s fire fighters, along with additional forces, have been on constant alert for six months, and are called to put out dozens of fires in forests and open fields every day.
About 12 square kilometers of forests and grove have gone up in flames over the course of the last few months, in 1,053 fires in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip. This constitutes more than half the forested area in the region. The two forests that have suffered the most damage are
Be’eri Forest, with 452 fires and 3.6 square kilometers burned, and Kissufim forest, with 353 fires and 5.2 square kilometers burned.
“KKL-JNF is embracing the periphery and assisting in finding a response to our neighbor’s attacks,” said
Danny Gigi, director of the KKL-JNF Southern Region. “We’ve suffered serious damages, but we’re not despairing.”
He explained that KKL-JNF’s mission in rehabilitating the forests is to remove the hazards, let nature take its course, and intervene proportionately, when intervention is necessary.
The Lions is a volunteer organization, working to benefit the community and to increase understanding between people throughout the world. The Lions Clubs International includes approximately 1,350,000 members in 42,000 clubs operating in 206 countries. In Israel, there are close to 1,000 Lions volunteers in 32 clubs across the country.
On this day the volunteers’ main mission was to clear away the cuttings from the forest.
Danny Ben David, director of the KKL-JNF West Negev district, guided them before the work and explained, “The cuttings dry up and become kindling. Taking it out of the forest decreases the risk to the trees in case of a fire.”
Galit Buzaglo, KKL-JNF West Negev Community and Forest Coordinator, told the volunteers: “the forest has been greatly damaged, but we’re all hoping that with your help and the winter rains, the forest will return to its former glory.”
Another activity performed by the volunteers was the planting of Agave plants. This unique plant was seriously damaged in the numerous fires, and its seeds are unable to germinate in the scorched earth. The volunteers planted saplings grown in the
Gilat nursery from seeds collected in the field. After getting established at the nursery, the plants are returned to nature.
“The heart aches to see this black color, after all the effort that’s been put into growing the forests and agricultural fields,” said
Zvia Masgev, a volunteer at Lions Ramat HaSharon. “It’s important for us to lend a hand and do what we can for the residents.”
The senior volunteers of Lions Israel were joined by a group of youths from Kibbutz Be’eri, including 12-year-old
Yuval Sharabi. “We always see balloons flying above us and the truth is it’s pretty scary, but we try to go on with our regular lives in spite of the fear, go to school and meet with friends,” the girl said.
Itzik Efron, chairman of the Lions sustainability committee and a KKL-JNF retiree, was the driving spirit behind the day’s orchestration. “As a voluntary organization it’s important for us to translate the feelings of empathy into concrete activity,” he said.
At the end of their work, the participants went on a tour of the region. At the Vermeulen Recreation Area, they heard the story of
Jonathan Vermeulen, a soldier of Dutch origin who died in 2000 during operational activity in the Gaza Strip, in the course of his service in the Border Patrol’s sappers unit. The recreation area was established with the support of
JNF Holland, and includes picnic tables underneath the grove’s trees. A memorial plaque bearing Jonathan’s story is mounted on a rock.
From there, they continued to the
Black Arrow (Chetz Shachor) site, a memorial for the paratrooper brigade‘s combat legacy during the retaliatory operations in the mid-1950s. From this site they could see the Gaza Strip. “To this day I never understood how close everything is,” said
Ilana Shomer from Ashdod.
We’ve had a fascinating day and we got to see the region that we keep hearing about in the news, up close,” said
Malka Sorogati from Petach Tikva. “There’s a great deal of satisfaction in knowing we could help, even if only a little.”