The Jerusalem Forest is a pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

 forest located in the Judean Mountains

Judean Mountains

The Judaean Mountains, ;, also Judaean Hills and Hebron Hills is a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem and several other biblical cities are located. The mountains reach a height of 1,000 m.-Geography:...

 west of Jerusalem. It is surrounded by the Jerusalem neighborhoods Beit HaKerem

Beit HaKerem

Beit HaKerem may refer to:* Beit HaKerem, Jerusalem, a neighborhood in west-central Jerusalem* Beit HaKerem , a biblical fortress in Judea identified by many with the later Herodium site...

, Yefe Nof

Yefeh Nof

Yefeh Nof is a neighborhood in west Jerusalem, founded in 1929. Together with Ramat Beit HaKerem and Givat Beit HaKerem, it is part of the larger Beit HaKerem neighborhood...

, Ein Kerem

Ein Kerem

Ein Kerem , lit. “Spring of the Vineyard”, and - ‘Ein Kārem), is an ancient village of the Jerusalem District and now a neighbourhood in southwest of Jerusalem. According to Christian tradition, John the Baptist was born in Ein Kerem, leading to the establishment of many churches and monasteries....

, Har Nof

Har Nof

Har Nof is a neighborhood on a hillside on the western boundary of Jerusalem, Israel, with a population of 20,000 residents, primarily Orthodox Jews.-History:...

, Givat Shaul

Givat Shaul

Givat Shaul is a neighborhood in western Jerusalem named after the Rishon Lezion, Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and not, as commonly believed, for the biblical King Saul, whose capital was probably located on the hill Gibeah of Saul near Pisgat Ze'ev, on the way...

, and a moshav

Moshav

Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...

, Beit Zeit. The forest was planted during the 1950s by the Jewish National Fund

Jewish National Fund

The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...

, financed by private donors.

At its largest, the forest extended over about 4 square kilometres. Over the years, it has shrunk due to urban expansion and today, it covers about 1.2 square kilometres. The Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....

 museum is located in the forest near Mount Herzl

Mount Herzl

Mount Herzl , also Har HaZikaron , is the national cemetery of Israel on the west side of Jerusalem. It is named for Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism. Herzl's tomb lies at the top of the hill. Yad Vashem, which commemorates the Holocaust, lies to the west of Mt. Herzl....

. In the middle of the forest, between Yad Vashem and Ein Kerem, there is a recreation center, the "Chaim Tzippori Guest House," (better known as the "Tzippori Center") which has a hotel and youth hostel.

Attempts to protect the forest

Projects by the Jerusalem Municipality threaten the continued existence of the forest, which causes concern among environmental organizations and residents of Jerusalem, especially those living in the nearby neighborhoods. At the end of the 1990s, environmental organizations and residents organized to fight for the future of the forest and its protection.

External links

• http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=568104&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0"How far will the rebuilt Jerusalem reach?" from the newspaper Haaretz
  Haaretz
  Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
  
  (Hebrew)]
• Website of The Forum of Organizations for Jerusalem Forest
• Website of the Tzippori Center (Hebrew)