The Jerusalem Forest is a

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

forest located in the

Judean Mountains The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills ( he, הרי יהודה, translit=Harei Yehuda) or the Hebron Mountains ( ar, تلال الخليل, translit=Tilal al-Khalīl, links=, lit=Hebron Mountains), is a mountain range in Palestine and Israel wh ...

on the outskirts of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. It is surrounded by the neighborhoods of Beit HaKerem, Yefe Nof,

Ein Kerem ar, عين كارم , settlement_type = Neighborhood of Jerusalem , image_skyline = Ein Karem IMG 0624.JPG , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = View of Ein Karem , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_ ...

Har Nof Har Nof ( he, הר נוף, lit. ''scenic mountain'') is a neighborhood on a hillside on the western boundary of Jerusalem with a population of 20,000 residents, primarily Orthodox Jews. History In Talmudic times, Har Nof was an agricultural settl ...

and Givat Shaul, and a

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 ...

, Beit Zeit. The forest was planted during the 1950s by the

Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subsequ ...

, financed by private donors.

History

In the early years of the state, Jewish National Fund planted thousands of trees along the western edge of Jerusalem, creating a

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...

. The first tree of the Jerusalem Forest was planted in 1956 by the second

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The po ...

, Itzhak Ben-Zvi. At its peak, the area of the forest covered 4,700 dunams. Over the years, the boundaries of the forest have receded due to urban expansion, and it now covers only 1,250 dunams.Forests and Parks, Jerusalem Forest - Nature in Jerusalem
/ref> The

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

Holocaust museum is located in the forest below

Mount Herzl Mount Herzl ( he, הַר הֶרְצְל ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside ...

. In the middle of the forest, between Yad Vashem and Ein Kerem, is Mercaz Tzippori, a youth hostel. On this same campus is the office of "The Adam Institute for Democracy and Peace", an Israeli non-profit organization that runs educational programs promoting tolerance and coexistence. The forest acts as a refuge for wildlife, and there are packs of

jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...

s that inhabit the forest.

Conservation efforts

Projects by the

Jerusalem Municipality The Jerusalem Municipality ( he, עיריית ירושלים; Iriyat yerushalayim), the seat of the Israeli municipal administration, consists of a number of buildings located on Jaffa Road in the city of Jerusalem. History British Manda ...

such as the planned

Jerusalem Road 16 Highway 16 (or Ariel Sharon Blvd) is a highway at the western entrance to Jerusalem providing direct access to the southern and central sections of the city from the west. Most of the road is located inside newly built tunnels. The project cost ...

threaten the continued existence of the forest, which causes concern among environmental organizations and residents of Jerusalem, especially those living in the nearby neighborhoods. At the end of the 1990s, environmental organizations and residents organized to fight for the future of the forest and its protection.

References

External links

* *
Website of the Tzippori Center (Hebrew)
{{Coord, 31, 46, 30, N, 35, 10, 0, E, type:city, display=title Forests of Israel Geography of Jerusalem Jewish National Fund forests and parks Protected areas of Jerusalem District Urban forests

History

Conservation efforts

See also

References

External links