Moves Taken to Protect Dead Sea, Kinneret and Timna Crater

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Moves Taken to Protect Dead Sea, Kinneret and Timna Crater
 
by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) New legal developments will protect the Dead Sea and Lake Kinneret. The Timna Crater is endangered by hoteliers, though.

A new governmental organization  was established last week to plan and implement the preservation of the Dead Sea, which is drying up at an alarming rate. The company, established by the Social-Economic Cabinet, will be tasked with preventing the continued drop of the water level and the preservation and restoration of the shore line.

Old docks can be seen laying on dried beaches hundreds of feet from the current shoreline all around the Dead Sea. The Ein Gedi Spa, which used to be at the shore of the salty sea, now provides a trolley to shuttle visitors to the shore.

The hotels at Ein Bokek, in the southern Dead Sea region, are also in danger of collapsing due to the environmental changes and the drop in water levels at the pace of one meter a year.

According to Globes business news, the Tourism Ministry oversaw all aspects of the Dead Sea, including preservation, prior to last week’s founding of the government organization.

Knesset Protects Kinneret
The Knesset passed the preliminary reading of an amendment to the Coastal Environment Protection Law, applying it to the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) last week.

The bill, put forth by MK Ofir Pines-Paz (Labor), calls for establishing a protection committee that will have to grant approval before any building plans on the lake’s shores can be implemented.

The bill finally declares that the public will be granted access free of charge to all beaches surrounding the Kinneret, though it leaves open the possibility of admission charges for upkept beaches and camp sites.

"The Kinneret deserves the same protection as the rest of Israel's coasts,” Pines-Paz told Globes. “The approval by the Knesset is an important step towards protecting the Kinneret and the public's right to enjoy it. I intend to quickly obtain final approval by the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee; the Kinneret cannot wait. The bill will be adapted specifically to the Kinneret and will be integrated with the Association of Towns on Kinneret Law to enable full balance between the need for development and the need for preservation."

Timna Crater Open Spaces Threatened by Hotel
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) has decided to launch a public awareness campaign after a proposal for an alternative site to plans to build a hotel in the Timna Crater were rejected.

SPNI had suggested that the hotel be constructed adjacent to the man-made lake in the region, which is the crater’s primary tourist attraction.


Moon over Sasgon at Timna Crater
(Photo: Timor Katz)

The area where the hotel is planned is in the Timna Crater, about 20 km north of Eilat, in the Arava Desert. The specific site is between the Sasgon Valley and Mount Michrot. SPNI objected to the establishment of the hotel complex, arguing that the hotel should be built next to one of the nearby kibbutzim instead of eliminating one more open space and laying infrastructure, access roads and other projects that would upset the pristine location and its ecosystem.


Sasgon panorama in Timna Crater
(Photo: Ariel Imerman)

The hotel developer rejected SPNI’s suggestions, offering to build opposite the Solomon Pillars or Ma’aleh Milchan – other scenic areas in the region – but both sites were dismissed by SPNI as even worse. Building at the original site is to commence in the coming months.

For more information, visiti http://www.aspni.org