Yesterday we volunteered with some friends to plants trees on Mount Carmel, near the site where Elijah took 450 prophets for a contest to see whose god could light a fire the fastest (Elijah's god won), and at the site of the recent Carmel fires. We did go to the site of the fire, we didn't see Elijah's altar, and we didn't plant trees as planned. But it was still fun.
Leading our group was an Israeli fire-fighter and one of the first-responders to the fires. He is also a member/staff of the KKL - which I'll describe as a.) the largest ngo in Israel; b.) somehow tied to the Jewish National Foundation; c.) plays the role of the Forestry Department; and d.) labels and maintains all of the cool hiking trails we go on (see the past post with the red hamburger trail). Anyway, this guy gave us a tour of 3 sites on the edge of the fires and then led us to an area that wasn't burned to do some work. (We couldn't plant trees because "there is a law" (temporary decree?) which prohibits anyone from entering the affected areas.)
The guide gave us a very personal version of the story which began with the planting of the forest. While our first reaction would be to draw comparisons to yearly fires in Cali, he proposed that the Israeli fires were worse because a.) Israel has a lower citizen/nature ratio so the fire has a greater impact on society; b.) the forest was planted (not natural) so it took many man-hours and dollars to create this (lots of ownership...as opposed to the Disney/Pocahontas theory of "you think you own whatever land you land on..."); c.) the trees aren't indigenous - so they won't grow back naturally; and d.) this is the biggest fire in Israeli history, so it is a really big deal to them.
After the tour and explanations we set to work - trimming the bottom 1/3 of young trees in an effort to prevent future fires. I cannot explain to you how this helps - but apparently it does. They gave us all gloves and tree trimmers and set us free on the side of the mountain! I have to admit, I think I trimmed back more thorny bushes than I did trees, and I don't know if I did helped or hurt the mountain. The time went quickly and in the end, it was pretty fun.
Leading our group was an Israeli fire-fighter and one of the first-responders to the fires. He is also a member/staff of the KKL - which I'll describe as a.) the largest ngo in Israel; b.) somehow tied to the Jewish National Foundation; c.) plays the role of the Forestry Department; and d.) labels and maintains all of the cool hiking trails we go on (see the past post with the red hamburger trail). Anyway, this guy gave us a tour of 3 sites on the edge of the fires and then led us to an area that wasn't burned to do some work. (We couldn't plant trees because "there is a law" (temporary decree?) which prohibits anyone from entering the affected areas.)
The guide gave us a very personal version of the story which began with the planting of the forest. While our first reaction would be to draw comparisons to yearly fires in Cali, he proposed that the Israeli fires were worse because a.) Israel has a lower citizen/nature ratio so the fire has a greater impact on society; b.) the forest was planted (not natural) so it took many man-hours and dollars to create this (lots of ownership...as opposed to the Disney/Pocahontas theory of "you think you own whatever land you land on..."); c.) the trees aren't indigenous - so they won't grow back naturally; and d.) this is the biggest fire in Israeli history, so it is a really big deal to them.
After the tour and explanations we set to work - trimming the bottom 1/3 of young trees in an effort to prevent future fires. I cannot explain to you how this helps - but apparently it does. They gave us all gloves and tree trimmers and set us free on the side of the mountain! I have to admit, I think I trimmed back more thorny bushes than I did trees, and I don't know if I did helped or hurt the mountain. The time went quickly and in the end, it was pretty fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment