Preventing and Fighting Forest Fires

Israel's Mediterranean climate is typified by warm, dry, rainless summers. When temperatures are high and hot, dry winds blow, and when wildflowers have dried up and the hills are covered with yellow dry grasses, fires start easily and are hard to extinguish. KKL-JNF plays a major role in preventing and extinguishing wildfires, which in Israel usually result from arson or negligence.

  • Battling Kite and Balloon Arson on the Gaza Border

    Incendiary kites and balloons launched from Gaza have burned some 8000 acres of open spaces and agricultural land, including 3,700 acres of KKL-JNF forests. KKL-JNF firefighters continue to battle the flames.

  • Maintaining Forests to Prevent Fires

    A forest fire ignites when there is high temperature, oxygen and flammable material. KKL-JNF rehabilitates forests damaged by an annual average of 600 wildfires that destroy 50,000 trees on an area of 800 hectares (2,000 acres).

  • Fighting Wildfires in Israel

    Once a wildfire spreads, it can destroy thousands of acres of forests and woodlands.

  • Controlled Forest Grazing

    Controlled forest grazing by flocks reduces the amount of dry brush on the forest floors, preventing the spread of forest fires in the summer and also providing a significant food source for the flocks.