The main factors and processes that affect the state of nature in Israel, as a result of human activity, were published
This week was presented In the Steinhardt Museum of Nature The State of Nature Report for 2022, which describes a snapshot of key factors and processes that affect the state of nature in Israel as a result of human activity. In general, our situation is not alarming: we continue to lose open areas at a high rate, increase the intensity of light pollution in nature, which harms ecosystems and biodiversity, close to 15% of the natural and forested areas in Israel have burned at least once in the last seven years and the rate of warming of the land and sea in Israel is faster than the world average. Is there also room for optimism?
Losing the open spaces, but declaring more nature reserves
The worrisome data was presented as part of 'Hamarg', the national program for assessing the state of nature of the Steinhardt Museum of Nature, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, KKL-Junk and the Nature and Parks Authority. According to the report, the rate of loss of open areas in Israel (natural, wooded and agricultural areas) continues to be high and stands at approximately 30 square kilometers per year. To put it simply, this is an area larger than the area of the city of Netanya. These areas have become construction sites, roads, solar fields and agricultural areas.
But the good news is that the extent of areas protected as declared and approved nature reserves and national parks is on the rise, and in December 2021 was about 26.1% of Israel's territory. In the last three years, marine nature reserves were declared for the first time in large areas in Israel, and today about 4% of the surface of the sovereign waters are defined as nature reserves.
Losing the open spaces
The fires we could have prevented
The heart shrinks at the sight of huge fires that consume thousands of dunams of nature and sometimes even threaten settlements. About 500 square kilometers (about 15%), of the natural and forested areas in the Mediterranean region of Israel burned at least once between 2015-2021, and it must be taken into account that repeated fires with high frequency significantly damage ecosystems and make it difficult for them to recover.
What is saddest is that it turns out that most of the areas where the frequency of fires is high are in and near IDF training areas. In fact, about half of the nature reserves in Israel and about an eighth of the forest areas managed by KKL-Junk are within active fire areas.
About 15% of the natural and forested areas in Israel burned at least once between 2015-2021
Someone turn off the light!
Crickets whose disruption of the activity and reproduction cycle threatens their continued existence. So far, there has been no follow-up on the issue at the national level, so it can be said that the current conference is considered historic, in which a threshold value for ecological light pollution (different from astronomical light pollution) was defined for the first time, and it now makes it possible to identify and characterize areas where the ecosystems are exposed to artificial lighting of an intensity that damages them.
The report, which sheds light on the data, reveals that the average intensity of artificial night lighting in Israel has increased by 30% in the last decade. 67% of Israel's territories north of Beer Sheva are exposed to light pollution to a degree that harms ecosystems and biodiversity, mainly in population concentrations and cities, but not only there. Over 40% of our forests and nature reserves are regularly exposed to light pollution. 78% of the coastal strip in Israel is exposed to high light pollution and in Eilat, coastal light pollution threatens the future of the coral reef.
Now the researchers point to a new source of light pollution in Israel's maritime space, which was dark until about a decade ago and spared the inhabitants of the sea at least this trouble - the gas infrastructures in the Middle East. We will only know the impact of this pollution in the future.
Turtles who haven't lost their way yet
Climate change and its impact on biodiversity
In this report, the expected effects of climate change on biodiversity in Israel were analyzed for the first time, and as one might expect - the forecast is alarming. As researchers have warned us many times, Israel is warming faster than the world average and is expected to become hotter. The damages are already visible and even more so in the sea compared to the land.
It is not always easy to notice the direct effects of climate change on nature, because they occur at the same time as other processes originating from human activity, and whose effects are sometimes immediate or more significant in the short term. But there are effects that can already be seen in the field: in the Israeli Mediterranean Sea, for example, dozens of mollusk species have become extinct over the course of several decades, probably due to the warming of the seawater. Migratory birds pre-migrate and are forced to shorten their stay times during the intermediate stops required for rest and eating.
Since Israel is a geographical and climatic meeting point, it constitutes the edge of the global distribution limit of many species of plants and animals. Climate warming may cause their local extinction. 'Cold-blooded' (ectothermic) species, and species with limited distribution capacity are expected to be more acutely affected by the climate crisis compared to other species.
Following a decrease in the amount of precipitation and an increase in temperature and evaporation, we will probably not be able to avoid an increase in the frequency, intensity and area of fires, and significant damage to freshwater habitats - streams, springs and winter pools.
Don't interrupt our sequence
The continuity of open areas is very important for the continuity of habitats and ecosystems, which are responsible for the existence of many populations, both of plants and animals. The accelerated development is notable for its effect on the model of the fragmentation of open spaces in Israel. According to the report, in the north and center of the country the open areas are divided into small and fragmented units, so much so that 83% of the area is less than one kilometer from the nearest road.
South of the city of Beer Sheva, most of the open areas are extensive and relatively continuous, and to enjoy the highest succession of open and natural areas in the Mediterranean region of Israel, you will have to go to the Golan Heights.
"Only detailed information by regions, species and habitats will allow us to adapt our nature conservation policy to the changing world and the growing challenges"
Significant efforts to preserve nature in the past and in the future
According to the editor of the report, Noam Ben Moshe, the report presents two major and opposite trends in the state of nature in Israel. "On the one hand, the threats to nature in Israel are increasing. The increase in population density and the accompanying development mean that the rate of loss of open spaces and their fragmentation continues to be high, especially in the center of the country and in the north. The effects of man also flow into the protected areas, and are expressed, for example, in the increase in the frequency of fires and light pollution in the nature reserves and forest areas, and there is the climate crisis that is already beginning to give its signals on the biological diversity in Israel. On the other hand, the nature conservation efforts over the years are also significant, and are manifested in a significant and continuous increase in the coverage of vegetation in the Mediterranean region in Israel and in a significant expansion of the areas of nature reserves, including the sea, which until a few years ago was hardly protected."
"The report constitutes a scientific knowledge base for decision-making for the management of open spaces and ecosystems in Israel," says Prof. Tamar Dayan, chairman of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. "Through it we get an up-to-date and reliable picture of the trends in the changes that are taking place in our environment, the main processes that are taking place and the factors that threaten the state of nature in Israel in the near and long term. Thanks to the report, the regulator and the bodies that manage the open spaces can make informed decisions and manage Israel's open spaces while understanding the consequences for biodiversity and human well-being."
"Reports on the state of nature should become more significant in the formulation of environmental policy in Israel. I am happy that this year for the first time there is a chapter dedicated to the impact of climate change on nature. Only detailed information by regions, species and habitats will allow us to adapt our nature conservation policy to the changing world and the growing challenges", says Tamar Zandberg, Minister of Environmental Protection.
Despite the worrisome trends, the web also marks some encouraging points: the scope of the areas protected as nature reserves and national parks declared and approved in December 2021 was about 26.1% of Israel's territory - a 9.6% increase in their area in the last four years. In the last three years, marine nature reserves were declared for the first time in large areas in Israel, and today about 4% of the surface of the sovereign waters are defined as nature reserves.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
