The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Prof. Yoram Avnimelech as part of the 2020 Annual Science and Environment Conference
These days, when the bird migration is at its peak, are a great time to take advantage of the easing of restrictions, register and visit the sick Agamon (or at least watch from home In the live broadcast from the reserve). Today, after extensive restoration efforts, it is already obvious that the Hula is a reserve full of life with a water reservoir at its heart, but in the 90s of the last century, about 40 years after the drying of the Hula area, when the drying of the lake was still considered an achievement, the thought of flooding the place sounded completely crazy .
The move to rehabilitate the patient and partially flood her was initiated in those days by Prof. Yoram (Yorik) Avnimelech, one of the pioneers of the environmental movement in Israel. This outstanding achievement is one of many that Avnimelech reached during over six decades of extensive research and public work for the environment and science in Israel. For his extensive work and many achievements, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award last week The annual conference for science and the environment. In the reasoning for the decision to award the award, it is written that "Avnimelech has done a lot for the development and application of scientific knowledge in the fields of aquaculture and solid waste and has made an important public contribution to the management of the water sector and the environment in Israel."
Abnimelech was born in Jerusalem in 1933, and as a teenager participated in the battles for the city as part of the War of Liberation. In his academic studies he focused on soil sciences, he did his doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University in Rehovot in collaboration with the Weizmann Institute, and later went to do a post-doctorate in Washington. For many years he served as a researcher at the Technion, where he served upon his retirement as Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering.
"I think that the complex of works around the Kinneret and the Hula are what built me," says Abnimelech In an interview conducted with him on the occasion of receiving the award. At the end of the 60s, it was discovered that in large parts the plants in the area of the dried Hula Lake were dying, and Abnemelech was asked by the Hula Development Authority to help find a solution. He discovered that the drying of the lake caused the soil to be contaminated by nitrate, a common water pollutant, which accumulated in the soil in high concentrations in large parts of the dried area. The predictions in those days predicted that if nothing was done to combat the phenomenon, the waters of the Kinneret, into which the salts from the Hula valley are washed, would become polluted and would not be able to be used.
Avnimelech, together with Dr. Colette Tzarua, the director of the Kinneret Laboratory in those years, worked hard to convince the Minister of Agriculture at the time, Haim Gebati, that the matter should be addressed - and quickly. Within the Kinneret Administration that was established at the time under the leadership of Amos Harpaz, Avnimelech in cooperation with the Kinneret Administration staff and teams of researchers from the Directorate of Agricultural Research, the Geological Institute, the Weizmann Institute and others worked day and night in order to to find a solution to the problem. "We did the biggest biotechnological project ever done in the world," he says. For four years, they used the area of Hula Lake and the marshes around it, which stretched over 20 thousand dunams, and created a method of irrigation and soil cultivation that encouraged the development of bacteria. "good" in the soil, which broke down the nitrate. Changing the irrigation methods that were accepted in the sick area and changing the regional water system resulted in the cessation of the pollution process The Sea of Galilee in nitrates.
Clean the fish ponds with bacteria
Abnimelech's affair with the Kinneret basin really did not end there. In the nineties, Abnimelech played an important role in the activity against the flow of water from the fish ponds to the Kinneret. He found that about 20 percent of the water that reaches the Sea of Galilee passes through the fish ponds, which led to the discharge of harmful substances such as fish excrement and algae into the sea. When he turned to the pond operators, they claimed that without a regular turnover of the water in the ponds the fish would die, this is because the high density in which they grow leads to the formation of toxic substances for the fish.
Abnimelech did not give up, and went to work at the fishing research station in Ginosar. He discovered that if you add a hydrocarbon substance to the water, such as starch, wheat flour or cellulose, this can reduce the concentration of nitrogen in the water and solve the problem of fish poisoning. The reason for this is that these substances lead to the development of bacterial clusters, which consume the nitrogen and thus lower its concentration in the water. In this process, these bacteria produce protein, which the fish feed on. In conventional ponds, 75 percent of the protein is not used for growing the fish and is excreted into the water, creating toxic substances for the fish. On the other hand, in the modern ponds the protein is recycled when the fish feeds on the bacterial cells, thereby increasing the efficiency of the protein utilization many times over. In addition, it was found that the introduction of a population of bacteria into the feed of the fish is healthier for them, and strengthens their resistance to disease. "Today, all over the world, this is the common method," says Avnimelech, who still guides farmers and companies from countries such as India, Vietnam, China, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and more.
to bridge between the factory and nature
One of Yoram Avnimelech's key positions was as the first chief scientist of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, a position he held for five years. Together with the office staff, Avnimelech worked to increase awareness of environmental issues and fought the polluting powerhouses in Israel. He acted as part of his role to raise awareness and establish relationships in the environmental field also with the neighboring countries, and visited Egypt and Jordan many times. Abnimelech also created agreements and collaborations with the Palestinians.
Abnimelech also played an important role in mediating the water dispute in the Ein Gedi Reserve. In the early 2000s, there was a struggle between the people of Shimirat Teva and Kibbutz Ein Gedi, which owns the "Mi Ein Gedi" plant, regarding the pumping of water from the spring. The way in which the water was pumped in those days led to the fact that the condition of the reserve was very bad and it suffered from dehydration, which led to extensive damage to the vegetation. In an inspection conducted by Avnimelech at the request of the environmental lobby in the Knesset, he found that with proper management the amount of water in the place can be sufficient for both the mineral water plant and the reserve, and that the main way to make this possible is to use the water only after it has flowed through the reserve. Avnimelech's recommendations were accepted, and in accordance with them, a treaty was signed in 2007 for the principles of managing the water interface between the kibbutz and the Nature and Parks Authority, and a water system and water reservoir were established on the site.
For the country, for the people
Avnimelech spread his environmental values even within the academic institution where he worked, the Technion. In May 2000, he initiated and led, together with Prof. Ofira Elon, the transformation of the Technion into a green campus. The project, which is still active today, and has been adopted by most academic institutions, was created in order to raise awareness of environmental issues and to instill environmental values in the Technion community, including extensive voluntary activity on the part of students at the institution. As part of it, tours, lectures and activities on environmental issues are held, environmental courses are integrated and more. "As part of the Green Campus, a first-year male and female student joins a faculty team that takes care of the environmental management of the faculty," says Avnimelech, "this is a good example for them to see that they have the power to change things and promote them."
Throughout his many years of activity, the ideals of doing and contributing to society and the country were central to Abnimelech. "You have to do, you have to act, you have to promote, and maybe if we perfect it, it will allow us to do better things to promote this country that we love so much," he says.
"You study, work and receive your salary from the company, because the company thinks it's important and it supports you - you owe the company," says Avnimelech. "If you work in a scientific field, and develop processes, theories and approaches, and you can link these things to well being (Shlomot, R. W.): for a better existence, for better conditions for the people in the State of Israel and in the world, in my estimation there is no greater satisfaction than that. In the end, you get a certificate of appreciation, maybe," he concludes with a characteristic smile.
the post The scientist who rehabilitated the patient and preserved the Kinneret appeared first onangle November 2020.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
