Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 61, 2011 248 Journal of Coastal Research SI 61 248-256 MCRR3-2010 Conference Proceedings 2011 Coastal Resources Management in Israel N Kilot 1,1 , N Collins-Kreiner 1,2 and D Shmueli 1,3 ABSTRACT KILOT, N., COLLINS-KREINER, N., and SHMUELI, D., 2011. Coastal Resources Management in Israel. In: Micallef, A. (ed.), MCRR3-2010 Conference Proceedings, Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 61, pp. 248-256. Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy, ISSN 0749-0208. This paper explores the management of coastal resources in two regions of Israel: the urbanized area of metropolitan Haifa and the rural coastal belt between Atlit and Hadera. Development pressures on the coastal resources are enormous as a result of population growth and the density of population in the coastal belt. Major non-sustainable uses in the coast are residences for the affluent, which are built under the pretense that they are designated for recreation and tourism. The legal and planning system weaknesses do not provide a sufficient safeguard for the threatened coastal resources. ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS: coastal resources use, development ethos and pressures, planning and policy mechanisms, threats on coastal resources. INTRODUCTION Coastal resources management in Israel is the outcome of the following ingredients: the limited coastal resources and their geographical layout, Israel’s legal and planning framework in which resolutions which concern coastal resources are made, implemented and enforced and finally, the population of Israel; its size, distribution and social and economic needs. Policy in respect to coastal resources is determined by an ideological/political drive for development of those resources, in contrast to conservation of all or some of those for future generations. This study will explore the tension between development and conservation of coastal resources in two coastal belts of Israel: one which is urbanized and is characterized by intensive land-uses (Haifa metropolitan area) and another, less densely populated with a tendency to prioritize conservation of resources and extensive use of resources for recreational purposes (Atlit-Hadera region). THE COASTAL RESOURCES AND THEIR USE Israel’s coastal belt from Rosh Hanikra in the north to the Gaza Strip in the South is 196 km long. Practically 49 to 60 km of this belt are closed by fences and are not accessible to the public. This closed strip includes military land uses, DOI: 10.2112/SI61-001.1 received XX; accepted XX ©Coastal Education & Research Foundation 2011 power-stations, ports and other infrastructures (Papay, 2002; Arnson, 2000; Givon, 2000). About 50 km of the coastal belt are under the jurisdiction of urban municipalities. Thirty-nine km of open coastal areas are under the jurisdiction of Regional Councils and some 40-45 km is proclaimed nature reserves (conservation areas). Only 68 km of coastal belt is currently undeveloped, but for at least half of it there are ready plans for development, thus leaving for the public between 38 to 53 km of natural undeveloped open and natural coastal belt (Arnson, 2000; Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection, 2005: 12-21). The outcome of this allocation of land use is one: each citizen of Israel has an average of 2.5 cm of coastal belt for his/her use (Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection, 2006). THE ISRAELI IDEOLOGICAL/POLITICAL CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT ETHOS The fervor for development which has a significant impact on Israel’s land resources can be traced to the pioneering settlers’ ideology for development and economic progress. Development per se need not be synonymous with environmental devastation. However, many argue that Zionist development has always been of a particularly aggressive and environmentally unsustainable variety (Tal, 2002: 26). The population of Israel grew six fold in 50 years. Because it was small, the country did not enjoy the margin of error that allows larger nations to make mistakes with relative ecological impunity. Nature and environmental conservation www.cerf-jcr.org 1 Department of Geography and Environmental Studies University of Haifa, Haifa 31905 Israel 1,1 Tel: 972-4-8372099; nuritk@geo.haifa.ac.il 1,2 Tel: 09-8911861, nogack@geo.haifa.ac.il 1,3 Tel: 972-4-9930308, deborah@geo.haifa.ac.il