Maintenance interfaces

As part of its ongoing work, the River Authority works to maintain the ecological balance in the river and in cooperation with the Nature and Parks Authority in the part of the river declared a national park, the two carry out restoration work to restore the cultural and natural landscapes that characterized the Yarkon and its surroundings in the past.

As part of this work, a small part of the wet habitats that disappeared from the Yarkon area due to over-pumping were restored and rehabilitated, plant species were returned to the river and its banks, such as the Yellow Nofar and the Blue Nymph, and local Eretz Israel trees are planted.

Eucalyptus – The eucalyptus trees were brought to Israel in the 19th century for draining the swamps. As they are not local trees, their characteristics do not match those of the vegetation of our area. These are trees with a high survival rate that have grown and spread in population. Their stronghold has prevented the development of the plant life typical to the Yarkon’s ecosystem, vegetation and wildlife. The trees’ survivability is manifested in the fact that they don’t rot, meaning they are resistant to bacteria and species of insects typical to the Yarkon area and responsible for decomposing its organic material. Therefore the organic material (leaves and tree barks) falling into the river does not decompose and clogs the stream, enriching it with material which harms the gentle ecological balance of the river, thus breaking off and disrupting the food chain and fabric typical of the habitat. As part of a long term rehabilitation plan, a controlled clearing of a number of eucalyptus trees on the riverbanks is taking place.

Preventative pruning – The River Authority regularly takes action to prune the trees along the river and paths for safety, as well as actions such as planting Eretz Israel trees.

Eretz Israel tree planting – Annually, the Authority plants trees along the banks of the Yarkon, creating collaborations with the authorities along the stream to engage the public in tree planting projects. The planting plan for coming years is to complete the planting areas and rehabilitate the historic landscapess of the Yarkon.

Treating invasive species – Alongside the banks of the Yarkon River and in the river bends are areas in which invasive species (such as eucalyptus, blue leafed wattle, castor oil plant, burweed, datura, traxia) damage the wet habitats. The Authority conducts selective extermination regularly for the past number of years. The need for extermination stems mainly from an outbreak of invasive plants in areas in which the land has been segmented as part of groundwork, plantings, fires and digging for infrastructure, but there is also a spontaneous outbreak of invasive vegetation in undisturbed areas. The extermination is done a number of times a year, mainly when the plants are young and small and specifically on the targeted plants.