The Committee for Quality of Life in Israel, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the Society for the Preservation of Nature in Israel (SPNI), have joined forces to protect what is left of the Jerusalem Forest, which has been shrinking in recent years. According to the organizations, various planning boards have at least 22 building projects for parts of the forest. The plans include moving the Paz Gas farm, the construction of Route #16, various building projects and expanding the Mt. Moriah Cemetery.
As part of the campaign to save the Forest, MK Ophir Pines-Paz (One Israel) intends to submit a draft bill in Knesset in November to declare the Forest a national park, in the hope that this will halt the creeping erosion of the Forest's status. Other activities will include lobbying the Knesset in favor of the bill and public petitions.
With the founding of the State in 1948, the JNF was given the task of planting 6,000 dunams (1,500 acres) of forest in the Jerusalem area. By 1967, 4,500 dunams (1,125 acres) had been planted, but there has been systematic hewing of the Forest since then, so that only 1,250 dunams (312 acres) remains. The Har Hotzvim and Givat Shaul industrial zones, and the Yaffe Nof and other neighborhoods have been built in the original area of the forest. In places, the width of the forest has been reduced to only 30 meters. This can hardly be defined as a "forest".
"The entire Jerusalem Forest was planted by hand," says director of community activities for the forest Rafi Amichai. "At the end of the 1940s, the hills were totally bare. One of the JNF's most welcomed activities for the city was to plan the forest to be the green lungs of the city. A unique ecology developed within the forest, with many natural glades being created as an integral part of the forest. There were springs around which natural fauna and recreation sites for picnics and nature walks congregated. There is no need to elaborate on the forest's importance as the green lungs of the city."
Development plans threatening the Forest include moving the Glilot gas farm from the foothill of the Yaffe Nof neighbor to inside the Forest and extending Route #16 from its terminal via the Ravida River to Jerusalem. All gas tankers would use this road. According to Amichai, the road would divide the River and destroy everything that has been created over the past decades. In addition, the Givat Shaul D plan extrudes onto the Ravida River from the north. A 100-unit private housing project is planned for the south bank of the river. "You will destroy a forest for 100 housing units?" asks Amichai.
A coalition of organizations is planning an alternative development plan for Jerusalem that does not damage the Jerusalem Forest. "We also want to see the city develop, neighborhoods for young couple and industrial development," says Amichai. "In our opinion, instead of damaging the forest, there are more logical alternative plans. Furthermore, we intend to fight to create a blue line that will prevent damage to the forest. We also demand a renewed hearing on National Outline Plan #22 (forest blueprint), which permits the free passage of electrical and sewer lines across 10% of the forest's area. The problem is that no-one has bothered to state what is the area from which 10% will be set aside. Every percentage point is significant for a shrinking forest. We demand that the forest's borders be precisely determined, so that no-one can threaten it anew with infrastructures and plans."
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 27 August 2000