Summer vacation in Israel has already begun, and youth group members are doing fun activities in summer camp sites that were developed and prepared at KKL-JNF forests throughout the country, with the help of friends of KKL-JNF worldwide.
About 120,000 youth group members are expected to spend the months of July and August in a forest atmosphere, at camps from Kfar Szold Forest in the north and the Limonim-Akbara and
Biriya Forests in the Tzfat region to the
Tzippori and
Ofer Forests in the Carmel region; and from the Hanaton,
Meginim and
Aminadav Forests in the central region to
HaMalachim-Shahariya Forest, which is located in the vicinity of Kiryat Gat in the south.
The KKL-JNF Land Development Authority, which is responsible for managing Israel’s forests, is also responsible for the development of the summer campsites for youth movements. This takes place within the framework of the implementation of the shared covenant between KKL-JNF and the Youth Movements Council that was signed in 2015.
In this covenant, the partners agreed “to work together for the promotion and empowerment of youth movement activities in the forests. The partners see the forests as an ecological asset, and the activities of young people in them are a central educational component that contributes to bringing youth closer to their land and to protecting the environment” (quoted from the covenant).
On July 2, the concluding ceremony of the seminars for training ninth-grade counselors and young activists from the Bnei Hamoshavim movement took place at the summer camp built this year in Limonim-Akbara Forest. In his words at the ceremony, KKL-JNF Land Development Authority Director
Yaron Ohayon emphasized that as part of its vision, KKL-JNF sees the members of youth movements as the leaders of the future and the future generation of the country and society. KKL-JNF has invested about ten million shekels in the development of infrastructure for summer camps during 2015 – 2018, an investment that bears educational and environmental fruits.
Ohana greeted KKL-JNF’s partners in empowering the youth movements and wished the young members a beneficial, enjoyable and successful summer in
KKL-JNF forests.