Knowledge in the Service of Humanity
As Israel's largest NGO with United Nations status, KKL-JNF is committed to international cooperation by addressing key global issues through mutual networking and knowledge sharing.
Fields in which KKL-JNF is regarded as a world leader include desertification, water resources, agriculture in semi-arid regions, afforestation, mitigating the effects of climate change and more.
Countries with comparable ecological systems are interested in learning from KKL-JNF, and we are approached to assist and work with them by means of providing professional training, seminars and workshops. These connections promote awareness of the need for nations and peoples to come together to tackle challenges of climate change and sustainable development.
As we work with others to address these issues, we reaffirm our shared humanity and build ties of mutual friendship and cooperation.
Desertification – A Global Issue
As a country that is largely arid, Israel has met the challenge of managing desert lands and combating desertification. KKL-JNF is the leading body in this field and shares its expertise with countries around the world, taking part in the work of various international organizations that combat desertification, among them, the International Arid Land Consortium and the Middle East Research Cooperation.
In December 2008, KKL-JNF sponsored an international conference on desertification with participants from a wide range of countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia, China, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. The conference addressed various aspects of open space management, forest management, the propagation of tree and bush species, tree nursery management, forest and forest-product management. Seminar participants toured the Negev desert to study the modern application of ancient methods of stopping floodwaters, soil preservation, and the restoration of stream banks in flood regions. They also learned how to deal successfully with moving sand dunes that threaten extensive areas on the edge of the Sahara in Africa.
Afforestation – Fighting Global Warming and Keeping the Planet Green
Afforestation has been a key KKL-JNF activity since its establishment. Today afforestation is set firmly in an ecological context, relating to the need to combat desertification and the fight to cut carbon emissions as part of the struggle against global warming.
Organizations, institutions and governments worldwide relate to KKL-JNF as a partner for environmental projects with global ramifications. Past projects have included identifying a parasitic wasp in Australia which is the natural predator and thereby an effective pest controller of the gall wasp, which endangered millions of eucalyptus trees in Southeast Asia, the USA, Africa and South America; combating the wooly pine aphid that kills 10 to 25 percent of the pine trees it attacks; studying the relocation of raptors in Israel in order to better understand how different species survive in increasingly smaller natural habitats; and the publication of the journal "Forest" on forestry, woodlands and the environment.
In addition, Roberto Maroni, the President of Lombardy, Italy, toured the Negev desert prior to Expo 2015 and inaugurated a joint venture with KKL-JNF for establishing an agriculture and afforestation program in Israel for students from Italy.
Water – Drops of Life
Water has been the key to life, agriculture, and development since before biblical times. KKL-JNF takes part in international endeavors to meet the challenge of dwindling supplies and rising demands.
Today, almost 80 percent of Israel's sewage undergoes treatment and is reclaimed for agricultural use.
River rehabilitation projects have restored life to many of Israel's neglected waterways and brought back their unique flora and fauna. In 2003, KKL-JNF's Alexander River restoration project won the Thiess Services International River Prize.
KKL-JNF's Biofilter Project, in collaboration with Monash University of Melbourne, Australia, uses Australian knowledge and expertise in assisting Israel to harness storm water runoff from urban areas. C
anadian provinces have partnered with Israel on international water initiatives such as the Oak Hammock Wetlands, the Manitoba-Israel Water Experts Symposium and other important projects. Every drop of water is a drop of life.
Climate Change
Israel’s achievements in the global struggle against the climate change are increasingly recognized around the world. At the forefront of these achievements is KKL-JNF's Yatir Forest, which flourishes in a desert region where the average rainfall is between 200-250 millimeters annually. KKL-JNF participated in the 2002 UN World Summit for Sustainable Development that took place in Johannesburg, South Africa and demonstrated impressive achievements in various fields related to climate change. It is estimated that KKL-JNF's tree-planting activities have sequestered 110 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere.
International Conferences and Fairs
In the spirit of international cooperation, KKL-JNF regularly participates in international conferences and fairs, sharing its decades of knowledge and experience with the world.
These have included the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), which meets every year to discuss ways to deal with climate change; the United Nations Forum on Forests, an intergovernmental policy forum on the management, development and conservation of forests; the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, at which KKL-JNF participates as part of the Israeli delegation; and the International Wood Fair in Klagenfurt, Austria, on timber production and forest management.
Working with our Neighbors
As part of its commitment to sharing its knowledge with countries around the world, KKL-JNF collaborates in a number of innovative environmental initiatives in Africa.
These include the Seeds of Hope project in Ethiopia, where KKL-JNF experts participated in a community vegetable seed project for smallholder farmers in eastern Ethiopia in order to help improve crop yield and ensure income and food security; the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda, where KKL-JNF established 50 beehives that produce organic honey, provided training in honey farming, and created a nursery that will become a center for implementing seed propagation methods and the production of seedlings for various crops; and Furrows in the Desert in Kenya, where sustainable community date palm farms in Turkana, Kenya use solar pump irrigation and Israeli-developed desert agriculture methods to increase economic independence, income and food security.
More about international cooperation with KKL-JNF