Restoring Natural Resources
Eliminating Invasive Species @ ICL Dead Sea
As part of the National Dead Sea development plan, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) is leading a plan to eliminate invasive species. The goal of the plan is to prevent invasive species and protect the biodiversity of the region. ICL Dead Sea is taking an active role in the program and launched, in collaboration with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), a multi-stage project to minimize invasive vegetation at the site and to contribute to biodiversity preservation.
What is an invasive species?
It is a species that has arrived, at a certain region, with the help of man, established itself and spread at the expense of local species. Known Examples are the Rhynchophorus ferrugineus beetle that ruined many date palm trees across Israel; and the fire ant - a small aggressive ant, that spread to many regions in Israel and is a pest for people.
Uprooting and rehabilitation
ICL Dead Sea has decided to control invasive vegetation that is able to easily spread in protected areas and cause ecological and environmental harm. As the Sdom area is relatively isolated, the fight against invasive vegetation is not lost. Therefore ICL Dead Sea, with the assistance and guidance of the INPA, is removing invasive plant species. These include trees and plants (Fan Palms and Mesquite), found on the facility’s grounds and by the route 90 main road. ICL Dead Sea will not plant any invasive plant as part of its landscaping, and will not cultivate known invasive plants.
As part of the plan, invasive trees were uprooted. In their place, native species are introduced in appropriate areas. This year, during the TuBeshvat Israeli holiday, native trees such as the Calotropis procera, were planted in and around the plant.
Nature conservation during operational activity
Due to repeated problems with water pipes in the Tamar stream, in an area that is a suspected minefield, it was decided to reroute the pipes. Near the area where the pipes were laid, a young acacia tree was establishing itself and might have been uprooted as part of the digging project. INPA and ICL Dead Sea agreed and coordinated a shared effort to avoid harming the tree. A process was started, with the cooperation and coordination of INPA and ICL, to change the original plans in such a way that the acacia tree will not be harmed and will be able to continue to grow. Thanks to the collaboration with INPA, ICL Dead Sea field workers and ICL’s contractors, the acacia tree was saved.
Reducing Light Pollution @ ICL Dead Sea
Artificial light enables us to work around the clock but also creates biodiversity challenges by illuminating the surroundings. Illuminating areas close to production sites at night is adverse to the ecological balance, disturbs animals and disrupts biological processes that occur only in the dark. Reducing light pollution can be a simple matter of eliminating or switching off unnecessary illumination, reducing the intensity of lighting installations, restricting its hours of use, or selecting different types of illumination such as focused torches and not those having ball symmetry.
The ICL Dead Sea production sites are located in a sensitive region from a panoramic and ecological perspective, and therefore it is important to take into account these ecological systems in order to diminish damage resulting from the plants’ operations. ICL Dead Sea have therefore taken up the challenge to reducing light pollution, through a cooperated project with Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), encompassing all 40 operational drilling yards.
ICL DS has been working on reducing light pollution for the past 4 years in various ways:
- Changing lighting fixtures from ones containing mercury to LED lights.
- The angle of light in an LED fixture does not exceed 120 degrees, versus other light fixtures that might reach 360 degrees, reducing ‘light trespass’.
- Changing lighting systems in open areas, to be activated by a motion sensor. Drilling yards were previously illuminated throughout the night, and have now been darkened. Any lighting required for emergency maintenance work at night (a rare occurrence) can be switched on either remotely or on site.
Darkening drilling yards in open areas reduces their light pollution as well as energy costs.
Land Rehabilitation & Restoration
The southern portion of ICL Dead Sea (DSW) area covers 36,000 hectares in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea. This area contains distinctive scenic, geological and historical attributes, some of which have been impacted by ICL Dead Sea’s quarrying, mining and drilling activities, as well as other factors unrelated to the Company.
ICL Dead Sea has initiated and is engaged in various rehabilitation and restoration projects within its concession areas. The company continues its efforts to minimize its environmental footprint.
Over the past several decades, ICL Dead Sea has engaged in earthworks in open areas of its concession area to support the various needs of its production processes. As a result, certain areas were marred which ICL Dead Sea is responsible to rehabilitate. ICL Dead Sea is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to restore these areas. It plans to continue to upgrade some of the sites to make them accessible to visitors.
ICL is also working on restoration projects with partners such as the Tamar Regional Council, The Israeli Environmental Protection ministry and the Nature and Parks Authority. Projects include a restoration plan at Nahal Heimar Estuary, Providing organized safe access to public open areas, Conservation of the “Swan Lake” and others.
| Size | Protected | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menifat Z'eelim | 1.3 | Adjacent to a nature reserve | Fully restored - thirds party approved |
| Ashalim Small Dam | 0.13 | Adjacent to a nature reserve | Fully restored - thirds party approved |
| Hadmonim Rout | 2.4 | Some of the area is in a nature reserve | Fully restored - thirds party approved |
| Admon Stream Area | 0.7 | Some of the area is in a nature reserve | Fully restored - thirds party approved |
| Zin-Zafir-Tamar | 3 | Inside a nature reserve | Fully restored - thirds party approved |
| Amazia Stream | 0.7 | Some of the area is in a nature reserve | Fully restored - thirds party approved |
By Geoteva
The Dead Sea visitor center project
ICL Dead Sea (DSW), in coordination with The Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel, will convert the old worker camp of the Eretz- Israeli Potash Company into a new visitor center. The visitor center will include three main themes:
- The history of Dead Sea Works, from before the establishment of the state of Israel. The Preceding Eretz- Israeli Potash Company that employed hundreds of employees- both Jewish and Arab.
- Exhibiting the special characteristics of the Dead Sea region, its unique nature, history and environment, and how the Dead Sea rift was created tens of thousands of years ago.
- The current industry in the region- it’s interrelations with the environment, it’s contribution of the region and state economy and it’s important role in the global food supply chain.
Work has started on the project and hopefully it will be open to the public during 2020.
Forming a Detailed Plan for the Nahal Heimar Estuary, South of the Dead Sea
Nahal Heimar, a large creek in the Judean desert, contains unique geography and biodiversity, including rare plants, animals and geological formations. In the midst of this environment is extensive mining and water infrastructure (damming and flow channels), including drilling and pumping stations for ICL Dead Sea Works. The company, in cooperation with the INPA and the Tamar Regional Council, formed a plan for the integrated restoration of the area. The plan includes the restoration of damaged areas to their original habitat, as well as restoration of areas to a wet habitat. ICL has selected a plan promoting minimum development that will provide hikers with an opportunity to explore the area without damaging it. This plan will allow for mining activity to operate in parallel with the restoration of the region.
The detailed plan was approved in 2017.
