Abigail Klein Leichman| Courtesy Israel21C

In biblical times, the land of Israel was blanketed with abundant fruit and forest trees that helped keep the air and
soil healthy.

Over the centuries, a succession of Roman, Mamluk and Ottoman conquerors chopped down 98 percent of these trees to build everything from implements of war to railroad tracks.

The consequences to the environment and its ecosystems were devastating.

But trees have made a remarkable comeback. Over the past 120 years, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) has planted more than 250 million trees throughout Israel.

KKL-JNF manages 300,000 acres of woodland that remove an estimated 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, prevent soil erosion and provide food, shade and shelter to people and animals.

When it comes to documenting the few trees that survived the deforestation of the land, Israeli tree historian Yaacov Shkolnik is the go-to guy.

Read more       

Photo: Atlantic pistachio tree, Golan Heights, Israel. By hermitis via Shutterstock

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