Methodology for Nature and Landscape Surveys of Open Spaces in Israel

The Open Landscape Institute, The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel

Israel's rapidly growing population and questionable land practices pose a real threat to the country's remaining open spaces. The nature and landscape surveys depicted here document and evaluate the environmental sensitivity of natural resources, landscapes, and the cultural heritage of open spaces. The survey's outputs include spatial and textual information for planners and entrepreneurs and are presented in a "planning language" to encourage sustainable development.

The surveys are composed of three main stages. The first stage is a collection of inventory spatial data about the area (including vegetation types, land use, nature and legacy sites, and zoological observations). The second stage is an evaluation of the preservation value of the areas' different parts. The third stage is an identification of areas highly evaluated but still threatened by master plans and development initiatives.

The evaluation of the surveyed area takes into consideration the different preservation values given to the inventory data (stage 2), resulting in a combined preservation value for each part of the area. The surveys also include an assessment of the continuum of open spaces in the survey area, using a methodology developed at the Open Landscape Institute which describes the distance between a given space to the nearest developed areas. The result of the analysis is a continuous map, identifying each point with an open space continuum value. High continuum values represent highly evaluated areas.

Courtesy of Open Landscape Institute.

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