Or simply... a lament for a beautiful place that was and is gone!
Elsewhere I have already written similar things, and yet the sorrow for a beautiful place that was... and is not, is great and the circumstances are not favorable... on the contrary, the situation has become so bad that there is no chance of repair, so the repetition of things.
An uncoordinated combination of the factories and the settlements of the southern Dead Sea resulted in the complete destruction of one of the unique habitats in Israel and in the world - and there is no compensating here and there. We all continuously hear about the environmental damages caused to the Dead Sea or more precisely to its northern part - the deep - for years the southern part has been completely ignored, perhaps due to the geographical distance, and more so due to lack of familiarity with the "Dead Sea Square", the area was neglected by "Shomeri" Nature" and is forgotten from the heart (and mind) of the defenders of the environment and the result is a disaster that, in my opinion, is not far from drying up the patient.
Between the hills of Havar and the southern shore of the Dead Sea was a salt marsh with springs and springs that were a source of life for the lush vegetation of the banks and a rich and special living world. Psammens, mongooses, foxes, deer, jackals, wolves and hyenas, are only a small part and a representation of the enormous wealth, a subspecies of wild boars that do not exist anywhere else, the first caracals that inhabited the animal corner of the zoological department in Abu-Kabir were captured in salting (by Koshi ) and were introduced in the plural.
In the XNUMXs, the Dead Sea workers (the Caledonia) built an embankment to protect the evaporation ponds from floods from wadis - Tzin, Emzia, Peres and others. Annual floods in the wadis created a water mikvah north of the embankment to which migratory waterfowl came: cascading birds and tadora were regular guests, sometimes swans decorated the mikvah And almost every year flamingos painted it bright pink.
To the east of the beautiful and unique Maliha, lies the desert oasis of Tzafi, which is fed by a number of springs and mainly by the tributary of Nahal Zard. Despite being a fertile neve and abundant with fresh water, massive settlement did not develop in it because of its remoteness and because of difficult accessibility, and thus the salinity - the salinity of the square - to the west of the neve was protected and was damaged ... to this day.
The first settlers (59) saw the beauty of the place and their love despite the heat and mosquitoes, lack of drinking water, distance... Or maybe because of all those factors that made the settlement in the place unique. The attitude towards the environment was not intelligent, but simply out of appreciation for the beauty of the place and its uniqueness, it was clear that no harm was done to nature, and accordingly an initial and pioneering activity of desert trips was established.
I lived and worked building the square until the end of 67, when I was appointed a regional inspector (on behalf of the "authority") and as such I did everything in my power with pleas, threats, explanations and attempts to influence so that the Naot square salt flats would be declared a reserve and thus receive protection that would allow the continued existence of the habitat The special .... Y had not all my efforts, a concession from the Dead Sea factories, the power of the bodies that settle the impotence and the short-sightedness of the PA administration, all these would have been stronger than me... and it's a shame!
The first settlers were "abandoned" (69) by the settling bodies and in their place were established settlements whose inhabitants did not know, did not see and did not understand where they were brought, they only saw the difficulties and what was atonement
On the heat and the mosquitoes were the $ signs that stood out as a future prospect... From the point of view of the new settlers, all the natural wealth was... harmful and accordingly a war of destruction was declared against anyone who dared to leave footprints in the fields. This is how the pigs, jackals, hyenas, hyenas and even a herd of cows were destroyed and are still being destroyed.
With the help of the KKL-Junk, a large part of the east and south of the unique salt marsh was wiped out.
It is true that today the new settlers are also trying to develop environmental awareness and are engaged in desert tourism, hospitality and attempts to preserve their natural environment, but this activity started late and for some reason I am suspicious
Because more than a conceptual desire to preserve the environment, there is an intention to initiate another source of income while utilizing a habitat that has already disappeared and is no more.
And so without a match and without reference between the settlers and the potash company (they don't care about the actions of the others), the water level in the evaporation ponds north of the salt marsh steadily rises. According to measurement data, in the last 40 years the level has risen by 6 meters. The rise in the level causes water to flow south, past the embankment
The Hagana (Caledonia), the flow of salty water (over 35%) to the salinity areas and what was once a winter puddle that attracted birds caused the complete destruction of all the flora and fauna.
Thus, without one body knowing and/or relating to the actions of the other, a "fruitful" collaboration was created that completely destroyed the special, rare, beautiful habitat - which was beautiful - of the square proper and who is supposed (according to law) to preserve and preserve the environment and nature on Loka Bay -potency. Therefore, the proper saltiness of the loaf is yoked.
Dr. Assaf Rosenthal
Tour guide/leader in Africa and South America
0505640309 / 6372298 08 for details Tel.
Email assaf@eilatcity.co.il
