LAND USE/COVER CHANGE IN ISRAEL: 1948-2001

Daniel Orenstein, (Ph.D., 2006)

The objectives of this research are three-fold: quantify rates and patterns of land use/cover change (LUCC) in Israel from 1948 to 2002, elucidate the relative importance of socioeconomic and demographic drivers of LUCC, and analyze the environmental implications of LUCC patterns. To address the first goal, I am using survey maps and satellite imagery to quantify historical rates of open space development and to analyze the patterns of development in four research sites in Israel which lie on a demographic and ecological gradient (click here for pictures of sites). Next, I integrate the spatial data with socioeconomic data in order to discern the predominant social and policy drivers of development. Finally, I will investigate the ecological implications of patterns of urban development in Israel.

My goal is to both understand the social and political drivers of land use/cover change in Israel , such that this understanding can be integrated into land use planning that is both socially responsible and ecologically sound. I hope to bridge the gap between ecologists, who advocate for the preservation of healthy ecosystems, and social activists, who are concerned with equitable access to resources among Israel's various ethnic groups and economic classes. This desire has grown out of the realization that socio-economic and political competition over land resources in Israel are leading to the rapid loss of Israel 's remaining open spaces and the biodiversity contained therein. Ideally, the data generated in this research can be used to stimulate public discourse on both the social, political and economic processes that impact environmental quality, and measures needed to prevent further loss of open spaces in Israel.

My interim conclusions include the following:

• While population growth places continued pressure to developed open land resources at the national level, settlement policy plays a significant role in whether per capita development is more intensive or more extensive (i.e.. sprawled).
• Population and settlement discourse in Israel is highly influenced by official concerns for maintaining a Jewish demographic majority, both nationally and locally (e.g. in the Galilee and Negev ).
• Policies influenced by this aforementioned discourse generally encourage development sprawl. These policies come into direct conflict with environmentally-informed land-use policies that promote the protection of open space.
• The most significant factors challenging open space protection in Israel include population growth, changes in household size (number of people per household) and size of residence (number of rooms per home), decline in importance of agriculture, and ethnic competition over land resources (including official and unofficial policies resulting from such competition).

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Links to selected publications and abstracts

Publications (refereed)

• Orenstein, D.E. 2004. Population Growth and Environmental Impact: Ideology and Academic Discourse in Israel. Population and Environment . 26(1):41-60.
• Boeken B. and D. Orenstein. 2001. The Effect of Plant Litter on ecosystem properties in a Mediterranean semi-arid shrubland . Journal of Vegetation Science . 12:825-832.

Publications (non-refereed)

• A Contentious Landscape. Opinion. The Jerusalem Report. April 18, 2005.
• The Vanishing Land. Opinion. The Jerusalem Report . April 5, 2004.
• Comic Relief . Radio diary on WBUR public radio's " On Point ." October 8, 2003.
• Is there a need for change in the Jewish National Fund's environmental policy? Debate. The Jerusalem Report . March 11, 2002.

  Abstracts of presentations

• Losing Ground: The Interaction between Demography, Land-Use Policy, Ethnic Conflict and Environment in Israel . Forthcoming - April, 2005. Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meeting. Philadelphia , PA. (With S.P. Hamburg).
• Controlling Development - the On-and-Off Connection between Demographic Change and Land Use/Cover Change in Israel: 1948-2002. April, 2004. Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meeting. Boston , Mass. (With J. Albert and S.P. Hamburg).
• Comparative Methodologies for Tracking Land Use/Land Cover Change in Israel, 1978-1999. Poster and abstract. October, 2003. Open Meeting on the Human Dimension of Global Environmental Change. Montreal , Canada . (With J. Albert, J. Mustard and S.P. Hamburg).

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Figures (click each image to enlarge)

Demographic Trends

Population growth	Comparative population density	Size of residence and persons per residence
	Threatened ecosystems

 

Spatial Analysis Methodology

 

Preliminary results

Intensity of development

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Research Site Photos (click each image to enlarge)

The following photographs are meant to illustrate the variety of community types in Israel , urban and rural, Arab and Jewish, and in a diversity of ecological systems. Since I am investigating how each community type (and their expansion) will impact adjoining ecological systems, the photographs focus primarily on the point of contact between the built and the un-built environment. I would like to thank Professor Rassem Khamaisi (Haifa University), Mousa Diabat (Arava Institute for Environmental Studies), Majed Esau, Raed Fadila and Dror Hawali (Israel Nature and Parks Authority), and of course, Professor Steve Hamburg, for accompanying me on these trips and providing their insights.

Northern research site

Carmiel	Gilon	Mikhmanim
Nahef		Kammanah

Center-North research site

Tira

Southern Sharon

Southern Sharon

 

Center-South research site

Rishon L'Tzion

Holon

Southern research site

Lahav reserve	Lahav forest	Lahav forest
Illegal dump south of Lehavim	Ad hoc reserve north of Beer Sheva	Laqye
Beer Sheva	Beer Sheva	Beer Sheva