Yatir Forest
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Yatir Forest (Hebrew: יער יתיר) is a forest in Israel on the edge of the Negev Desert. The forest covers an area of 30,000 dunams (30 km2 (7,413 acres)), and is the largest planted forest in Israel.[1]
History
The first trees were planted in 1964 by the Jewish National Fund at the initiative of Yosef Weitz. It is named after the ancient Levite city of Yatir.[citation needed]
Over four million trees have been planted, mostly
The forest is situated at a relatively high altitude (between 400 and 850 metres
The Israel National Trail, marked in 1991 runs through the forest. Yatir forest is located on the trail south of Meitar and north of Arad.[citation needed]
Ecology research
Studies conducted in Yatir forest under the direction of Prof. Dan Yakir of the Weizmann Institute of Science, in collaboration with the Desert Research Institute at Sde Boker, have shown that the trees function as a trap for carbon in the air.[2][3] Shade provided by trees planted in the desert also reduces evaporation of the sparse rainfall.[4]
Yatir forest is also a part of the NASA project FLUXNET, a global network of micrometeorological tower sites used to measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere.[citation needed]
The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies conducts research at Yatir forest that focuses on crops such as dates and grapes grown in the vicinity of Yatir forest.[5][6] The research is part of a project aimed at introducing new crops into arid and saline zones.[7]
Ecological herb and essential oil farm
The Yatir biological farm is located next to Yatir Forest near the village of
See also
- List of forests in Israel
- Jewish National Fund
- Yatir winery
- Agricultural research in Israel
- Science and technology in Israel
- Anim synagogue
- Agriculture in Israel
References
- ^ a b "Planting of Yatir Forest". Archived from the original on 2011-01-15. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
- ^ Benefits of planting trees in the desert, Haaretz
- ^ KKL-JNF cooperating on afforestation at Yatir forest
- ^ Benefits of planting trees in the desert, Haaretz
- ^ Vu du Ciel-documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
- ^ 2000 year old seed grows in the arava Archived 2012-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ MERC Project M-20-0-18 project Archived 2012-01-11 at the Wayback Machine