When most of us think of Israel we imagine a desert environment, the arid wilderness of Judea where Jesus spent his forty days, the inspiration for our Lenten season.
Israel does draw water from both the Jordan River and an aquifer for its highly productive agriculture. But would you think of wetlands in Israel? In the north there were wetlands which were drained as unwanted swamps during the past century. Then it was realized that migratory birds were suffering because their traditional lay-over spots had disappeared. The Jordan Valley is one of the lowest places on Earth (the Dead Seas is the lowest place) and it is a migratory channel which flows into the Rift Valley in Africa and all the way to Europe.
In the 1990's the Israeli government began restoring the wetlands of the Hula Valley in the north with spectacular results. Millions of birds move through and hundreds of thousands of cranes, seen above, now find their way to these wetlands. I have seen flights of storks floating gracefully northward on the thermals.
There is now an extension to the traditional religious tourism industry with avid birders visiting Israel to watch the migration.
Encouraging story, don't you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment