IALC Member Institution Highlights:
JNF/KKL Tree Planting Program

Since Israel's declaration of statehood in 1948, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, the official land agency in Israel, has made afforestation, land reclamation, and halting desertification three of its priorities. The Jewish National Fund, KKL's American fundraising and educational arm, supports KKL in these activities.

JNF/KKL's accomplishments with regard to tree planting are impressive. In the mid-1960s, for example, the JNF began planting forests in areas averaging only 10 inches (25 cm) of rainfall annually, at Yatir and Lahav in the Negev Desert. These forests now cover some 12,500 acres of formerly barren terrain.

View of the Yatir Forest, Israel

Small check dams in the Yatir Forest

To maximize meager Negev water resources, JNF has built dams and reservoirs to capture floodwaters for irrigation and replenishment of underground aquifers.

For more information on planting JNF trees for all occasions, call the JNF Donor Relations Center at
+1 (800) 542-TREE. Or, visit the JNF Online Tree Planting Center and order a tree online.

For more information on JNF donor opportunities, call JNF Marketing and Communications at
+1 (212) 879-9305, ext. 226