KKL oasis top.
(photo credit: KKL)
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By Dr. Orr Karassin
The
globe is warming and KKL-JNF has taken upon itself to share the
knowledge and experience accumulated over the past century in Israel's
arid and semi-arid areas in the fields of afforestation, water and land
reclamation and agriculture. Adaptation to climate change is the major
issue at the
COP 15 conference and will become an ever-growing
issue as the world climate continues to change. It is now anticipated
that the shared vision of the COP15 will commit the world to warming of
1.5º to 2º! Under such conditions it is expected that various parts of
the world will experience reduced precipitation and recurring drought.
Tree planting with local cooling effects and positive impacts on
avoiding soil erosion, as well as livelihood production are one of the
major strategies worldwide to increase resilience to climate change
especially in developing counties. KKL-JNF has sent five
representatives to the conference,
Avi Dickstein, Yitzhak Moshe, Judith Strasser, David Brand, headed by
Dr. Orr Karassin KKL-JNF Member of Board of Directors and expert on environmental and climate change policy.
In the week of the conference KKL-JNF set up a booth at the main
exhibition hall to promote international cooperation and technology
sharing, which created overwhelming interest from representatives of
many counties, impressed by KKL- JNF accomplishments, in creating
partnerships and receiving information. Africans, Indians, Bangladeshi
facing similar climate challenges expressed an interest in implementing
Israeli know-how in adapting to their changing semi arid environments.
ICLEI
- Local Governments for Sustainability requested to explore future
cooperation possibilities with KKL-JNF in their African Projects. A
Gambia TV crew, amazed by KKL-JNF's achievements, interviewed
Yitzhak Moshe, Deputy Director of KKL-JNF Southern Region and
David Brand,
Director of Forestry and Research. They explained dry land
afforestation techniques and the many trials and errors that Israeli
afforestation management underwent before achieving its current
success.
Michael Lavendire, Forestry Officer FAO Eastern Africa,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, requested to visit Israel to study firsthand
particularly dry land afforestation as Ethiopia seeks to adapt KKL-JNF
technologies in Ethiopia. This interest in adaptation is fueled by both
the growing need and also by promises of commitment by world leaders to
fund adaptation in developing counties. George Sores a world economic
leader has called for an adaptation fund of ten billion dollars and it
seems that his challenge will be accepted by developed counties who
have already committed billions towards adaptation.
Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
who raised serious concerns about funding carbon reducing projects in
developing countries, instead called for swift action to finance
adaptation. KKL-JNF identifies with this message - providing livelihood
in arid conditions through agriculture has been at the core of its
work.
During the formal Side-Event organized by the State of Israel,
Yitzhak Moshe
emphasized that KKL-JNF is offering techniques in afforestation and
water-harvesting that can be implemented easily all over the world,
even in the least developed countries. "Our goal is to leverage climate
change risks and turn them into opportunities, creating advantages for
developing counties through adaptation and development. When rain falls
in short showers or bursts, the information on harvesting run-off water
can make all the difference between a starving and a healthy
community."
Such
information will become increasingly important as extreme weather
conditions are expected to increase and "it is becoming more difficult
to predict future meteorological conditions as the past is no longer a
good indicator for future patterns" said Michel Jarraud,
Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization. This means
that adaptation must depend on the resilience of communities to climate
changes or the reduction of existing vulnerability. KKL-JNF hopes to
take an increasing role in this global effort.
For more information, please visit our website at www.kkl.org.il/eng or e-mail ahuvab@kkl.org.il
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