Volunteering by community residents is a major component of the activity of the community forests. Many willing residents are prepared to contribute their time and energy to advancing the forest near their homes. They are "Community Forest Trustees". One member of the Forest Trustees usually coordinates the group's activity. According to surveys carried out by KKL-JNF about half of the residents of the communities in which there is a community forest are prepared to contribute their time to nurturing the forest. Among them are business owners near the forest who are aware of the advantage inherent in nurturing a green environment.
What do the Community Forest Trustees do?
The Community Forest Trustees promote community activities in the local community's fields of interest in varied fields such as culture, sport, education, and leisure and also guide the visitors to the forest on the subjects of botany, archeology, and the environment.
The trustees take part in carrying out surveys and documenting the life of the forest and they are partners to nurturing it. Guiding takes place voluntarily, mainly at weekends, during the flowering season, and in community events. Young volunteers, school students, join the adults and take part in guiding. The trustees can be identified on the ground by their "official" shirts that they wear during their activity.
KKL-JNF foresters enrich the volunteers with professional training and develop a package of training materials together with the volunteers. Once a year the trustees of several community forests go on a trip and team-building activity together in the KKL-JNF parks. The local authority advertises the activity of the volunteers on billboards and in local newspapers and sees this activity as a personal example of residents who take responsibility for improving the community's quality of life.