Nature in the Golan Heights, which suffered a severe blow in the war, is beginning to recover. The Katzrin Stream, which was completely burned last summer following rocket fire by Hezbollah terrorists, has now begun to bloom and turn green.
Amit Spivack, an instructor at the Golan Field School of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, said that after the first rains in the Golan there was a great variety of flora and fauna. "It seems that the stream has restored itself in an amazing and miraculous way," he said. "It is full of new and fresh reeds, some of them several meters high, many geophytes such as crocuses, summer flowers, cyclamens and a lot of other beautiful green vegetation."
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Nature is returning to Katzrin stream
(Photo: Amit Spivack/Society for the Preservation of Nature in Israel)
Spivak said that the animals also have already returned to the stream. "We even met a small, young turtle that came to the stream," he said. "We can learn from this encounter that the restoration that the stream underwent after the fire was so quick and good, given that the turtle has food, water, and a safe place as it needs, and that the stream is a good and suitable habitat for the turtle. The Golan, which is usually yellow after the summer and was black this year, is already starting to turn green and colorful with stunning flowers."
The Society for the Protection of Nature has announced that guided tours soon will be taking place from the Golan Field School to the Katzrin River, on the subject of the river's rehabilitation. During the war, hundreds of thousands of dunams of open areas in the north and south of the country were damaged.
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Katzrin stream is green again
(Photo: Amit Spivack/Society for the Preservation of Nature in Israel)
During this period, after nature in Israel was severely damaged, the state wants to transfer half of the funds away from projects to address the effects of the war on nature. The money that the Ministry of Finance wants to take, according to the Arrangements Law, is supposed to go to specific urban development projects that have many budget sources.
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Assaf Zanzuri, director of planning at the Society for the Protection of Nature, said: "As the fund requires amendment, in light of population growth and climate change, there is a growing need for large, functioning open spaces for the benefit of the public and nature, so the government should increase the fund's budget and certainly not cut it. The Israeli government decided to ignore over 200 public position statements that were submitted and decided to expropriate half of the open spaces fund, which preserves the natural and recreational areas of all of us, and transfer it to the benefit of developers."
"What will happen is that in the coming years, as a result of the decision, is that we will see far fewer natural sites restored, for the benefit of the public, throughout the country," he added. "The decision is particularly outrageous, due to the fact that valuable natural areas, in the north and south, that are so dear to our hearts and have been damaged in the past year, need restoration. We call on the government - it is not too late to change and cancel the decision."