Shmuel Browns has toured Mount Carmel in the aftermath of the fire and posts a report and a number of photographs.  He writes:

On December 2, 2010 a fire erupted on Mount Carmel burning for 4 days until fire fighters could get the blaze under control and destroyed over 50,000 dunam of forest. The JNF estimates that 1.5 million trees were burnt in the fire, some estimates raise the total figure to 5.5 million trees and the Carmel Hai-Bar nature reserve was damaged. We learned that pine trees, soft woods with a lot of resin, are usually killed by the intense heat; their surival mechanism is that the pine cones open in the heat and hundreds of seeds are  scattered. The oak trees, being a hardwood, often are able  to live, the  branches are burned and die but the roots survive and send up new shoots.   According to officials, nearly half of the 150,000 dunams of the Carmel Forest reserve have been destroyed in the fire and it will take at least 20 years to for the forests to grow back.

See his blog for more details and pictures.

From the Jerusalem Post:

Starting December 16 the Galilee will be hosting its first annual international ornithological festival.
The result of a joint effort and a million-shekel investment by all of Israel’s nature protection organizations and Galilee promoting bodies, the new festival seeks to attract bird and nature lovers from across the country and the world in an aim to maintain the birds’ natural habitats.
“Israel in general is a great place for bird watchers and ornithologists, but the Galilee and the Galilee in the winter in particular, is a jackpot for bird enthusiasts,” said Dan Alon, director of the Israel Ornithological Center and the festival’s organizer. “Israel is located at geographical bridge between three continents – Europe, Asia and Africa, which makes it a ‘bottleneck’ into which hundreds of migrant species converge. Luckily for us, many of the varieties of birds choose to stay in the Galilee in the winter, the environmental conditions turning it into a perfect hotel for birds.
“As director of the Israel Ornithological Center, my main job is protecting the natural habitats of birds and ensuring that they return to Israel year after year. In order to do that we have to make sure that protecting the birds’ habitat remains economical for landowners in the Galilee. One way of doing that is using the bird’s presence to draw in tourists,” said Alon. “The festival, which will run until January 8, is aimed at the general public, not just professional or die-hard ornithologists. By offering a wide range of activities and tours, all focused on bird watching, we hope to attract a large number of people so that the landowners and decision makers in the Galilee realize that keeping the habitats available to birds pays dividends.”

The full story is here.

UPDATE: Arutz-7 has posted the winners from the SPNI Birdwatching Center’s photography
contest.

Bird near shore of Sea of Galilee

Tourism to Palestinian sites is increasing, according to this article in eTurboNews (HT: Bible and Interpretation):

For the past three years, Dr. Deibes served as the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities. Coming from the background of being the head of a cultural heritage center in Bethlehem, her positioning in this filed has chosen to be the right choice. The proof is not her personality or her speeches but rather what the industry has accomplished during her era – a golden one under well-known circumstances. Even before, her traces are well found in the old city streets of Bethlehem and in many other corners. In the educational field, she introduced many opportunities and initiatives such as the EU Tempus Masters program with Bethlehem University, along with many others.
Today, to crown her term in 2010, the tourism contribution within the Palestinian GDP is the highest since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. Its share is almost 15%, up from less than 10% last year. It is estimated at US$885 million. Once again, the hotels of Palestine reached their record number at 90 hotels, in addition to more than 40 guest houses and other hostels. Another Palestinian record this year is the giant number in local tourists – 2.7 million, which is almost double from last year. Together with incoming tourists, they are very close to the 5 million mark. With this number, the Palestinian tourism industry has passed a benchmark that has never been reached in the past, and the country is still under occupation.

The story continues here.

The last statement quoted above raises a question.  When were Palestinians most recently not under occupation?  You can cast your vote below. (Email readers may need to click through to vote.)

UPDATE (12/8): As most participants in this poll know, the Palestinians of the West Bank have been under occupation since 1967 by Israel, under occupation 1948-67 by Jordan, 1917-1948 by the British, and 1517-1917 by the Turks.