Israel Environment Bulletin Summer 1992-5752, Vol. 15, No. 3
LANDSCAPE PROTECTION UNDER CONDITIONS OF RAPID DEVELOPMENT
Vital development needs in Israel have always posed a threat to the
country's open space landscape. In response, Israel has developed
a significant system of nature reserves and national parks to
protect areas of high natural and landscape value. But the small
size of the country and the heavy pressure on its limited land
resources have left few land reserves. Protected areas are small in
size and insufficient to preserve the nature values, the ecosystems
and the unique landscape image of this highly diverse and naturally
rich country.
In order to secure the biodiversity and the visual resources of the
country in areas which have not yet been granted statutory
protection, a new approach was formulateddirecting development,
both in terms of siting and features, to appropriate areas in ways
which will not destroy the ecosystem, the wildlife and the
principle landscape image of each landscape unit.
To accomplish the task, a methodology for nature and landscape
surveys and evaluations was developed by Israel's nature and
environmental protection bodiesincluding the Society for the
Protection of Nature in Israel, the Nature Reserves Authority, the
Jewish National Fund and the Ministry of the Environment. The
methodology calls for the integration of data and features into a
preplanning map summarizing all the relevant conservation
information concerning each landscape unit for the benefit of both
planner developers and conservationists.
The recent acceleration of building and development in order to
provide housing for the waves of immigrants pouring into the
country, called for faster and more efficient ways to cope with the
threat to Israel's remaining open space landscapes. A think tank
composed of representatives of Israel's major nature and
environmental bodieswas set up at the end of 1990 to adapt the
methodology to the new reality of accelerated development.
Preliminary Classification of Landscapes
Dubbed DESHE, the Hebrew acronym for Image of the Country, the
green lobby group worked quickly to classify the country's entire
open space landscape into characteristic landscape units in
accordance to criteria relating to the totality of their attributes
and functionsuniqueness and value, ecological function, natural
and historical resources, recreational value, quantitative and
qualitative value, landscape value, and carrying capacity for
development. The preliminary classification was accompanied by
recommendations for appropriate levels and features for the
protection/development of each landscape unit.
Open spaces throughout the country were classified into four
categories in accordance to their value, importance, sensitivity
and vulnerability, as follows: protected areas, open space
landscape areas, controlled development areas and building and
development areas.
Protected areasincluding declared and proposed nature reserves,
national parks and forest reservesare areas of special importance
and high sensitivity in relation to nature, landscape and historic
values. In such areas, development is prohibited except for
countryside recreation and tourism, conservation and research.
Open space landscape areassuch as landscape reserves,
pasturelands, forests, and other open public space areasare
characterized by landscape sensitivity, diversity and special
features. Such areas should be preserved as open space landscapes
for purposes such as tourism and recreation and should only be
developed for the uses and purposes defined for each individual
area, in accordance to strict environmental principles.
Controlled development areasincluding partially built open areas,
agricultural areas and afforested areasare areas of intermediate
natural and visual sensitivity which are partially suitable for
building and development as long as landscape protection is taken
into account. In these areas, building and development will take
into account the findings of natural resource evaluation studies
and landscape surveys. Principles for controlled building and
development may include restrictions on building height and
density, use of specific materials and usage limitations.
Building and development areas are areas with low natural and
visual sensitivity deemed appropriate for building and development.
Guidelines for building and development in these areas may be
presented on the basis of landscape and/or environmental
considerations.
Given the shortage of time, the classification work based itself
largely on existing data with a minimum of field work. Areas for
which available information was insufficient were temporarily
granted a higher level of protection, pending the results of
landscape surveys and evaluations.
Principles for Environmentally-Sound Planning
In addition to the classification work undertaken by the team, ways
were sought to incorporate environmentally-sound planning
strategies into the overall national planning system. Special
emphasis was paid to the formulation of principles with regard to
the distribution of population, settlements, construction and
development. Following are some of the main principles proposed:
In determining population distribution, special account should
to be taken of the high landscape value and limited carrying
capacity of such regions as the hills of Galilee and the central
mountain ranges. The highest potential for absorption in terms of
land reserves, low sensitivity and high carrying capacity exists in
the northern Negev and therefore national efforts and resources
should be directed to this area rather than to the highly populated
central region and other sensitive regions.
Establishment of new settlements should be minimized as much as
possible, especially in the center and north of the country and the
establishment of small rural villages and low density suburbs
should be curtailed.
Efficient land utilization should be promoted so that more
extensive areas may be left as open spaces, in accordance with the
following principles: increased density in residential areas and
increased attention to a better quality of life and the
environment; functional and spatial integration of land uses and
multi-purpose land use; careful norms on the allocation of public
areas; adoption of technological and legal solutions for efficient
land use; reuse of damaged areas; and investment of resources in
the prevention of nuisances.
Principles were also developed for level and type of development,
especially with regard to the construction of settlements and
infrastructure facilities within open areas. Principles include:
integration of development with landscape features;
prevention of damage to non-renewable resources;
limitation of development to spaces which are as small as
possible;
combination and integration of infrastructure facilities and
lines.
Implementation of these principles can be undertaken through the
careful use of such planning tools as natural resource surveys,
landscape surveys and evaluations, feature analysis and
environmental impact assessments. Measures and resources for the
prevention of nuisances and for landscape rehabilitation should be
incorporated in development plans.
The planning principles outlined above as well as the preliminary
open landscape classification maps have been presented to decision
makers to be used as guidelines for development and conservation.
They were used in the preparation of the environmental
guidelines
map which constitutes a statutory document in the National Outline
Scheme for Immigrant Absorption (see accompanying article in this
Bulletin). Finally, these maps and principles are being used and
will continue to be used in environmental lobbying and conservation
campaigns.