A Great Fire at Ramat Hanadiv

In May 1980 a fire broke out near the chicken coops of Kibbutz Ma’ayan Tzvi, north of the Nature Park at Ramat Hanadiv. The fire spread rapidly and destroyed significant areas of the current park. This was considered a life-altering event at Ramat Hanadiv with respect to all aspects of the management approach for the Nature Park; today, fire prevention is an important component of the vegetation management of the park. Since the fire, Ramat Hanadiv manages the park areas using an approach that supports controlled human intervention of the natural system to obtain ecological, landscape, cultural and other benefits. This approach does not just let nature ‘do its thing’; rather, we strive to initiate a balance between ‘open’ and ‘closed’ landscape patches, and thus maintain the characteristic biodiversity of the region and prevent fires. This balance is achieved through controlled grazing by cattle and goats, pruning trees and cutting shrubs in certain areas.