The extraordinary story of Israel’s forests, from ancient times to the present.
In this insightful and provocative book, Alon Tal provides a detailed account of Israeli forests, tracing their history from the Bible to the present, and outlines the effort to transform drylands and degraded soils into prosperous parks, rangelands, and ecosystems. Tal’s description of Israel’s trials and errors, and his exploration of both the environmental history and the current policy dilemmas surrounding that country's forests, will provide valuable lessons in the years to come for other parts of the world seeking to reestablish timberlands.
Alon Tal is on the faculty of Ben Gurion University’s Blaustein Institute of Desert Research. He founded the Israel Union for Environmental Defense and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. He lives in Macabim, Israel, with his wife and three daughters.