A Decade of Monitoring: Insights into Israel's Biodiversity and Conservation Challenges

Israel is home to diverse and unique biodiversity, but its conservation faces significant challenges. The country’s small size, rapid population growth, and extensive development—such as land conversion for agriculture and infrastructure—negatively impact ecosystems and create substantial edge effects on natural habitats. Additionally, Israel is highly vulnerable to invasions by introduced species due to extensive imports and insufficient regulation. Environmental and conservation issues often hold low priority in public and policy spheres, while market forces favor development at the expense of the environment. Furthermore, due to its location in the Eastern Mediterranean, climate change in Israel is occurring at a faster rate than in most other regions of the world. To address these challenges and assess the state of Israel's biodiversity, a long-term national monitoring program was established: Hamaarag – Israel’s National Ecosystem Assessment Program, founded in 2006. The program aims to provide science-based assessments of Israel's nature and enable effective management of its open landscapes and biodiversity. The core activities of Hamaarag include a national terrestrial monitoring program, which has been running since 2012. The program consists of approximately 950 sampling plots, distributed across nine ecological monitoring units representing different habitats in Israel. These units monitor a wide range of taxa, including plants, arthropods, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The program primarily addresses temporal changes in species populations and the effects of human settlements, agriculture, and other anthropogenic factors on ecological systems and the local flora and fauna. The findings from Hamaarag’s monitoring efforts are published in the State of Nature reports, which include both the Trends and Threats Volume and the Biodiversity Volume. These reports integrate data from the terrestrial monitoring program, wildlife surveys conducted by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), and a citizen science butterfly monitoring program. The findings from the first decade of monitoring show clear impacts of human activities on biodiversity. Vegetation – The findings, based on 38 years of remote sensing data, indicate a 36% increase in vegetation density (NDVI index) in the Mediterranean region. This increase suggests a recovery of woody vegetation, likely due to reduced wood-cutting and grazing pressures. However, overcrowding of trees, shrubs, and vines may reduce biodiversity in woodlands by competing for resources, especially light. Butterflies – Data collected over a 13-year period as part of the National Butterfly Monitoring Program revealed a 34% decrease in butterfly abundance and a 30-day delay in the peak abundance. This decline in butterfly populations mirrors the global decrease in insect populations, which is likely driven by intensive anthropogenic activity. The delay in peak abundance suggests a disruption to butterfly life cycles due to climate change. Reptiles – Data from a seven-year monitoring period revealed a 58% decline in reptile abundance in the Western Negev dunes and a 48% decline in the Northern Negev Loess Plains. These declines are likely due to long-term warming and drying trends in these desert regions, which have altered habitat conditions. Birds – Data collected over a nine-year period showed a 17% decline in the total abundance of common breeding birds in Israel. This decline occurred at a rate four times faster than that observed in Europe. Species affected by this decline were primarily human-associated and Mediterranean steppe species. The abundance of the invasive Common Myna increased by 585%, with studies suggesting that predation and competitive displacement by the Myna threaten native bird populations, especially as it spreads from human settlements into open landscapes. Mammals – Increases were observed in populations of several mammal species, including the Indian Crested Porcupine, Grey Wolf, Golden Jackal, Red Fox. Most of these species are human adapted, thriving in areas with abundant human resources, such as food and water. These trends reflect the influence of human activity on mammal populations, with resource availability playing a significant role in population growth. Surveys conducted by the INPA and the Hamaarag monitoring program also show an increase in ungulate populations, including Nubian Ibex, Israeli Gazelle, Dorcas Gazelle, and Arabian Gazelle. This increase suggests success in large-scale conservation efforts, likely due to the reduction of poaching and improved management practices in certain areas, including sanitation measures in protected zones. The findings of these long-term monitoring efforts underscore the importance of directed attention, resources, and human capital in achieving significant biodiversity protection. Most of the threats to Israel’s biodiversity are not inevitable but are instead the result of policies and planning decisions. This is a positive outcome, as the future of Israel’s unique biodiversity depends on the ability of decision-makers to implement changes that prioritize conservation.