About the Forest The forests of contemporary Israel are mainly the result of a massive afforestation campaign by the Jewish National Fund (JNF). In the 19th Century and up to World War I, the Ottoman empire cleared the land of Israel of its natural reserves of pine and oak trees, in order to build railways across the empire.Since it was founded the JNF has planted in Israel more than 185 million trees creating 280 forests, and still operates today. South of the Lower Judean Plain in the direction of Beersheba is a big forest that covers an area of more than 30,000 dunams.(300 Square Kilometres (km2))KKL JNF started planting this forest in 1952 and expanded it in the 1960s. In the forest you will find the Joe Alon Center for Regional Studies, underground tunnels, desert wildflowers, active recreation areas, archeological ruins with remains from Jewish and Christian villages, and bicycle paths. The climate is arid with an average annual rainfall of 240mm. The forest stands out against the bleak background that surrounds it, which has mainly low desert shrubs. In the forest glades there are wonderful wildflowers in the springtime, a festival of colors. In the Lahav nature reserve the vegetation is typical for the intermediate regions between the desert and the Mediterranean terrain. One of the plants that are typical to the region is Jerusalem sage, which is a low bush that blooms in springtime with yellow flowers. Its leaves are covered with a thick layer of fuzz on both sides that make the leaves look almost white. This layer of fuzz is much thicker than the leaf itself, and its purpose is to protect the plant from loss of moisture. In the fall, the sternbergia blooms first. In the forest, in addition to conifers there are also olive groves, pistachio, terebinth and carob trees.