In recent years we have witnessed many threats by the planning institutions on the trees and urban nature in Jerusalem. These include felling licenses for over a thousand trees per year, many of them ancient and valuable trees. Also, new construction plans have been submitted for multiple nature sites, as announced in the outline plan for urban nature in Jerusalem. Ecological and communal valuable sites such as Reches Lavan, Mitzpe Tel, Har Nof Forest, Nahal Zimri, Mitzpe Neftuh, Emek Zeytim and more are in danger of destruction from development even though there are alternatives to all these plans.

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Many of these sites have active resident groups that are trying to prevent the planned destruction of the site. Following the collaborative work in the Sustainable Jerusalem Lobby, we understood that each struggle does not stand alone. That's why it was decided to hold a joint event for all the lobby organizations, which highlighted the importance of trees and nature in the city and demanded from the municipality, "Come down from the trees".

 

The event took place on 3rd March 2021 at Ein Lavan, a site symbolizing the struggle for Jerusalem's nature with the participation of hundreds of people, and included a panel of party representatives, where they were asked about their commitment to preserving the Jerusalem hills.