Page 14 - Discover Israel Magazine - UK edition 2018
P. 14
Ecotourism in the
most beautiful and
ecologically vulnerable
place in Israel
Immerse yourself in the unique desert The Negev Highlands preserve the wild landscape. Ecotourism is
environment and know that you are based primarily on the people of the desert.
helping it thrive The Negev Highlands are located in Israel’s Residents of the area who live in the desert
desert region, and the area covers over have turned their homes and environment
Shai Yagel, Community Trails half of the country. It is the least settled into tourist sites, and their lifestyle into a
area, with most of it made up of expansive tourist attraction.
nature reserves, brimming with wildlife
such as ibex, wild asses, and even wolves When you think of the desert, the first thing
and hyenas. The desert, however, is also that comes to mind is sand and arid earth,
the most ecologically vulnerable. Even the but the truth is that for thousands of years,
minutest damage lasts for many years, the desert was also home to agriculture,
and even for centuries, until nature is able and today - thanks to technology - we can
to restore its fragile self, making ecological see modern desert agriculture in the region,
conservation extremely important. In recent which is transforming strips of desert into
years, the combination of tourism and islands of green. The Ramat Negev Research
ecological conservation has turned the and Development Centre is located 30
region into an ecotourism attraction. On the kilometres south of Beer Sheva and offers
one hand, visitors enjoy a unique tourism a fascinating look at the technology that
experience, while on the other hand, they
D I S C O V E R I S R A E L 14
