Meet Israel's national tree - the olive tree. (Olea europaea).
The olive tree. (Olea europaea)
In biblical times, the Land of Israel was covered with forests & fruit trees. They kept the air clean, the soil was healthy & the Land full of life.
But over hundreds of years, as different empires invaded & occupied here eg Romans, Mamluks, Ottomans, most trees were cut down. Wood was needed for ships, weapons & even train tracks. By the early 1900s, nearly 98% of the forests were gone & the Land began to dry out.
For the last 120 years, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) has been working to bring the forests back to life, planting over 250 million trees all across Israel; they now care for about 300,000 acres of woodland.
These forests help clean the air, stop soil erosion & provide shade, food & fresh oxygen for everyone. Few trees capture the spirit of this Land quite like the olive tree. (Olea europaea). enduring & deeply symbolic, it has grown here for over 6,000 years.
The olive tree was chosen as Israel’s national tree in 2007; the decision was made by the Jewish National Fund together with the Council for the Protection of Nature in Israel & the Israeli Ministry of Education.
The selection was part of a wider national educational initiative encouraging schools & the public to vote for symbols of Israel’s natural heritage - a sort of “national nature identity” project.
There are an estimated to be more than 10 million olive trees across Israel, from the Galilee & Carmel in the north to the Judean Hills & Negev oases.
Some are thousands of years old; the oldest known, calculated by the age of the trunk, is near Arraba in the Galilee, & believed to be around 3,000 years old.
The most spiritually significant ancient olive trees are in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem - see attached picture - approx 1,000 years old, with roots possibly dating back 2,000 years.
#imagineisraeltours
#simonostertourguideisrael
#floraandfauna
#israelnature
#olivetrees
#Galilee
#JudeanHills
#negev
#BiblicalLandscapes
#ecotoursisrael
#CulturalHeritage
#ExploreIsrael
#visitisrael
#israeltourguide
#tourguideisrael
But over hundreds of years, as different empires invaded & occupied here eg Romans, Mamluks, Ottomans, most trees were cut down. Wood was needed for ships, weapons & even train tracks. By the early 1900s, nearly 98% of the forests were gone & the Land began to dry out.
For the last 120 years, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) has been working to bring the forests back to life, planting over 250 million trees all across Israel; they now care for about 300,000 acres of woodland.
These forests help clean the air, stop soil erosion & provide shade, food & fresh oxygen for everyone. Few trees capture the spirit of this Land quite like the olive tree. (Olea europaea). enduring & deeply symbolic, it has grown here for over 6,000 years.
The olive tree was chosen as Israel’s national tree in 2007; the decision was made by the Jewish National Fund together with the Council for the Protection of Nature in Israel & the Israeli Ministry of Education.
The selection was part of a wider national educational initiative encouraging schools & the public to vote for symbols of Israel’s natural heritage - a sort of “national nature identity” project.
There are an estimated to be more than 10 million olive trees across Israel, from the Galilee & Carmel in the north to the Judean Hills & Negev oases.
Some are thousands of years old; the oldest known, calculated by the age of the trunk, is near Arraba in the Galilee, & believed to be around 3,000 years old.
The most spiritually significant ancient olive trees are in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem - see attached picture - approx 1,000 years old, with roots possibly dating back 2,000 years.
#imagineisraeltours
#simonostertourguideisrael
#floraandfauna
#israelnature
#olivetrees
#Galilee
#JudeanHills
#negev
#BiblicalLandscapes
#ecotoursisrael
#CulturalHeritage
#ExploreIsrael
#visitisrael
#israeltourguide
#tourguideisrael
photo credit: MyOliveTree
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