Project Profiles - Israel

Recycling a Dump for Half-a-Billion Birds
Article and photos by Reuven Yosef, International Birding & Research Center - Eilat

Swooping down from the granite Eilat Mountains, the tightly packed swarm glided over the neon lights of the city, headed east towards the palmeries along the Israeli-Jordanian border. From a distance, the horde looked like a pack of angry hornets casting about for prey. But this throng—several thousand strong—was comprised of one of the few species of Accipitridae known to migrate gregariously. Levant sparrowhawks were arriving at their traditional spring roost at Eilat, Israel.

Israel is the only land bridge for birds making their autumnal and spring migrations between Europe and Asia and Africa. The Eilat region is especially important because it is located on the northern edge of the Saharan-Arabian desert belt and is reached after a continuous flight of almost 2,000 kilometers over the Sahel, Sahara, and Sinai Deserts. It is estimated that over 500 million birds, representing 230 species, pass through this area annually. In many cases, the majority of the world’s population for a given species, such as steppe eagle or Levant sparrowhawk, concentrate at this regional bottleneck. Soaring migrants especially avail themselves of the Eilat staging area—an estimated 5 million birds.

Eilat was once an extensive salt marsh of 12 square kilometers located at the terminus of the surrounding valleys, which flooded during the winter. Its soil was high in salt content, and its surface covered by clay, dictating a unique plant community dominated by Suaeda monoica. This species flowers and develops fruit in spring and autumn, a perfect food plant for migratory birds. Today, the marsh is gone. . .completely. . .lost to human occupation.

In 1948, the City of Eilat was established on the western side of the Gulf of Aqaba. The human population has risen steadily through the years, reaching 53,000. Hotel construction brought economic growth to the city, with some 13,000 rooms available to vacationers. Most of the hotels’ footprints and artificial lagoons were carved out of the salt marsh. Other large areas were converted to agricultural fields, while still other areas were transformed into salt or algae pans for commercial harvest of these resources.

The disappearance of indigenous birds from the region—rufous bush robin, Dead Sea sparrow, and northern shrike—reflect the state of the habitat’s deterioration. However, the implications of the marsh’s demise go far beyond its effect on local populations. Small-bodied migratory birds are especially vulnerable, because they can only load on enough fat in Africa to sustain them through their crossing of the hostile deserts. They have always depended upon the salt marsh to provide the sustenance needed to continue their journey north to the breeding grounds.

Migrants usually reach the Eilat area after having flown for 20 to 40 hours without “refueling.”
The conservation of staging areas is of the utmost importance for migratory birds. This is especially true for Arctic breeding or trans-Saharan migrant species for which the breeding period is very short and the nesting period is critically timed. Failure to arrive on the breeding grounds in optimal condition, or at the right time, may mean that nesting will not occur or that death will result.

In 1993, foreseeing the imminent need, International Birding & Research Center-Eilat acquired a garbage-dump site used from the 1950s to the 1970s. We have recycled the 64 hectares of “human-abused” landscape, converting it into the environmentally friendly Eilat Bird Sanctuary.

Early in the project, all funds raised were applied to burying the garbage in situ. We convinced local building contractors to pour clean earth that had been excavated for new construction onto the dump. When soil depth reached 3 meters, we planted the area with indigenous vegetation, which is irrigated with partially treated sewage water. Owing to the water’s high organic content, the plants have flourished.

We also constructed a freshwater lake. A Palo Alto, California, couple donated the money used for the lake’s construction: the husband presented his wife, an ardent birdwatcher, with a lake in her name for her 60th birthday. Mekorot, the national company that desalinizes the city’s water, donates excess salt-free water it generates to fill Lake Anita. The lake serves millions of birds, and its outflow travels an open canal to the Red Sea, providing 3 kilometers more of habitat.

While the area is less than 5 percent of the original marsh, the birds now, at least, have a place to stage and feed. When the sanctuary is completed, we will have substantially replaced the habitats lost, and Eurasian migratory bird populations will be able to continue to swarm here.

For more information, contact Reuven Yosef, Director, International Birding & Research Center - Eilat, P.O. Box 774, Eilat 88106 Israel, +972 8 633 5339, ryosef@eilatcity.co.il, www.ibrce.com, www.arava.org/birds-eilat.