Part A: A Review of the Various Approaches to Forest Policy and Management in Israel During the Last Hundred Years
Omri Bonneh
Chief Scientist, Land Development Authority, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), Eshtaol
Omrib@kkl.org.il
The planted forests in Israel are at present multifunctional, and designated primarily for provision of ecological services. Afforestation in Israel, which was begun 100 years ago by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), the Israeli Forest Service, was based on the “classical” forestry approach and was characterized in its early days by dense pine plantations dominated by Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis).
Early criticism of the KKL-JNF forestry policy by environmentalists and ecologists included recommendations to reduce planting density and to increase species diversity, had already begun in the late 1930s. A massive dieback of 40-year-old planted Aleppo pine stands, attributed mainly to an outbreak of the Israeli pine bast scale (Matsucoccus josephi) in the early 1970s, led to the use of other species of pine, mainly Pinus brutia, instead of Aleppo pine (Figure 1). Toward the late 1980s the use of native broadleaf species in forest plantations was dramatically increased, and much heavier thinning was applied in many young, dense stands. Broadleaf seedlings were planted in mixed forests, either randomly between the conifers (cover photo) or, alternatively, in separate patches of varied sizes to create a complex mosaic-like landscape pattern (photo, page 9). Only in 1990 were the changes – that had been gradually implemented in practice since the early 1970s – formally approved, as the KKL Forest Department revised its forest policy (Figure 1; Table 1). The new policy aimed to create mixed, multi-layered, well spaced forests with higher tolerance and better resilience to climate-change impacts such as drought, fire, and insect infestation.
Since then, modifications of this policy have been made from time to time, to strengthen sustainability of the forest by increasing its structural and age diversity.
In 1995, the National Master Plan No. 22: Forests and Afforestation was approved by the Israeli government (KKL-JNF, 1995). The plan is unique, in that it defines six different forest formations, and thereby explicitly promotes biodiversity. The plan designates only 42% of the forest area in Israel for coniferous forests; the rest is designated for various native broadleaf forests and other woodland formations.
In 2007, the KKL-JNF Board adopted a sustainable forest development policy. This policy emphasized the variety of ecological services that the Israeli forests should provide to the public and to future generations, and it set the goal of creating a second generation of uneven-aged mixed forests, prioritizing the use of native species and natural processes.
In 2012, KKL published the current forest management plan – ‘Policy and Guidelines for Forest Planning and Management in Israel’ – which recommended increasing the complexity and patchiness of the forest structure.
Tables and figures available in English in full Hebrew version (PDF below)