V.7. Knowledge dissemination
The restoration of the Hula Wetlands provides an excellent opportunity to involve the general public and teach people about the principles of conservation and restoration.
Projects will be established involving students within the framework of their Matriculation projects. Seminars, study days and guided tours will also be conducted. Reports will be published regularly in the scientific community on the progress of the project.
V.7.1. High school students graduation work
High school students conduct their graduation work in the frame of the LIFE Project:
- Grazing in the Hula Project, by Adi Efriat. This work examines the adaptation of a number of plants to the area, together with the grazing preferences of donkeys introduced into it. The protein content of the plants and their seasonal behavior are examined as a further guide to management policy.
- Influences on the biology of Aphanius mento, by Oz Nahum: The findings show that A. mento is a suitable species for introduction into standing water bodies to control mosquitoes. Further tests are required to determine whether it is more efficient in this respect than Gambusia affinis or Tilapia zillii, apart from its attraction as an ornamental species.
V.7.2. Internet Home Page: www.migal-life.co.il
Active from July 1998, actualized in January 1999, October 1999 and May 2001.
V.7.3. Proceedings and presentations in conferences
V.7.3.1. The Hula environmental project presented at "Life Week".
LIFE, the financial instrument supporting EU environmental policy, held the “Life Week” conference and exhibition in Brussels on 20-23 October. Some particularly successful Life projects were presented in a poster exhibition, which included an Israeli project for “Restoration and Conservation of the Re-flooded Hula Wetland Habitat”.
Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom received a concise explanation of The Hula project from its Director, Dr. Mario Gutman. Photo “The Commissioner said that in Israel we hardly need European
Technical assistance, but I emphasized the importance of the support we received from
Life-Third Countries, which came just when we needed it,” says Dr. Gutman.
Spanish, Greek, Italian, Russian, Croatian and Palestinian visitors seemed particularly interested in the restoration and conservation project, and in possible future collaborations with Israel institutions involved in the project.
V.7.3.2. Participation in the IALE International Conference
Landscape Ecology- Theory, Teaching, Applications, October 1999 Pultusk, Poland:
Ecodiversity Changes in the Hula Valley, Israel during This Century.
Didi Kaplan¹ Avri Kadmon²
¹ Nature Protection and National Park Authority, POB 1143, Safed 12000, Israel.
² K.K.L, Jewish National Fund, GIS Department, POB 45, Kiryat-Haim 26103, Israel.
Abstract.
The goal of the present study is to assess eco-diversity changes by studying the landscape richness and diversity and the flora and avifauna richness across 58 years prior to drainage, during the agricultural period and after the re-flooding. Vegetation re-establishment studies, carried out in the Agmon wetland and the surrounding arable land after re-flooding, were analyzed, with flora and avifauna data collected by Oron (1998) in the Hula reserve and compared with the Hula wetlands prior to drainage. Landscape diversity was GIS analyzed, comparing 1940, 1992 and 1998 maps by measuring abundance and cover of landscape types.
Analysis of changes shows a decrease in floral richness from the original wetlands to the agricultural period, and an increase in the rehabilitation period, represented by the Hula Reserve and Agmon Lake. The same trend was observed in avifauna richness. Map analysis of landscape richness and Shannon index diversity demonstrate similar trends, especially from the beginning of the Life project in 1997.
It is concluded that the agricultural period represents a change in the landscape function towards a more fragmented and mono-cultural landscape, resulting in a drop in eco-diversity, and that the wetland rehabilitation has been a success from the ecological-functional aspect.
V.7.3.3. Participation in the MEDECOS 2000 International Conference
Kaplan, D., Gutman M. 2000. Restoration and conservation of fauna and flora in the re-flooded Hula Wetland in Northern Israel (Project LIFE TCY/97/1L/O38). Proceedings of MEDECOS 2000 International Conference: "Mediterranean-type Ecosystems: Past, Present and Future", Stellenbosch, South Africa, September 2000
