Op-Ed by David Lehrer: Preserving or Consuming the Nation’s Natural Treasures
By David Lehrer, July 23, 2009
Ynet English, Israel
[translated from the original Hebrew]
The recent decision of Ber Sheva Judge Hendel allowing the Israel Lands Authority (ILA) to issue a tender for the continued sand mining of the Samar Dunes, the last large block of sand dunes on the Israeli side of the Arava border, is one more example of this nation’s disregard for its own natural treasures. The claim of the ILA is that the continued mining of the Samar Dunes is critical to the building industry in Eilat. The claim of those who fight to preserve the dunes in their natural state is that they represent a unique ecosystem with rare and endemic species found nowhere else in Israel. The dunes that once spread across 11 square kilometers have now been reduced to 2.3 square kilometers due to industrial pollution, agriculture and legal sand mining sanctioned by the ILA. The remaining 2.3 square kilometers of pristine sand dunes are the habitat for rare and endangered species of gerbils, geckos, beetles and spiders. The compromise reached between the ILA, the National Parks and Nature Reserve Authority and the Hevel Eilot Regional Council will allow the sand mining of another 0.7 square kilometers while preserving 1.6 square kilometers as a Nature Reserve.
Such a compromise may sound reasonable to many however it is based on the assumption that the value of the sand to be mined from the next track of dunes is greater than the value of preserving the Samar Dunes in tact. First I will address the value of extracting the sand and then I will address the value of leaving the sand in place.
If Judge Hendel had ruled against the ILA and cancelled the tender, would that spell the end of building in Eilat? Clearly building contractors will find alternative sources of sand for building. It is estimated that the Samar Dunes can yield another 500,000 tons of sand for building. On average, until the sand mining ceased in 2005, the Samar Dunes yielded about 35,000 tons a year for building purposes. The price per ton of sand from the Samar Dunes was approximately 10.00 NIS a ton. Today, building contractors in Eilat are buying sand from Mishor Rotem near Dimona at approximately 30.00 NIS a ton. The 20.00 NIS difference represents the increased costs of transporting the sand from Dimona to Eilat. On the assumption that contractors can continue to transport 35,000 tons of sand for building from Mishor Rotem to Eilat for the next 15 years, the additional cost to the building industry for not mining the Samar Dunes is the dune’s potential sand yield; 500,000 tons multiplied by the marginal transportation cost of bringing down the sand from Dimona; 20.00 NIS per ton. Therefore, the total value of the Samar Dune’s potential sand yield is:
500,000 tons of sand X 20.00 NIS per ton = 10,000,000 NIS
It is much more difficult to answer the question, “What is the economic value of leaving the sand in place?” The value of a natural resource is made up of both its use and non use values. The use value of the Samar Dunes as sand dunes (and not as a sand quarry) could be the value of preserving the dunes for tourism. There are methods for measuring the monetary value of tourism to natural areas like the Samar Dunes. I believe, however, that the use value of the Samar Dunes for tourism is relatively minor compared to the non-use or the existence value of this unique and endangered ecosystem. Economists also have methods for measuring the monetary value to the people of Israel for the continued existence (the non-use value) of the Samar Dunes but do we really need an economist to explain to us that 10 million NIS paid out over 15 years is a small price to pay for preserving in tact, this unique landscape, the last large block of natural sand dunes on the Israeli side of the Arava Valley?
Another alternative to trucking sand from Dimona or destroying the last large block of sand dunes on the Israeli side of the Arava border is to continue to dig deeper in the existing sand quarries where mining was ceased in 2005. Digging deeper in an already disturbed area could easily replace either the sand from Dimona, saving millions of shekels or the sand from the Samar Dunes saving a valuable and unique ecosystem. What are we waiting for?
David Lehrer
Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
Kibbutz Ketura
***
Read original article here [Hebrew]
Ynet English, Israel
[translated from the original Hebrew]
The recent decision of Ber Sheva Judge Hendel allowing the Israel Lands Authority (ILA) to issue a tender for the continued sand mining of the Samar Dunes, the last large block of sand dunes on the Israeli side of the Arava border, is one more example of this nation’s disregard for its own natural treasures. The claim of the ILA is that the continued mining of the Samar Dunes is critical to the building industry in Eilat. The claim of those who fight to preserve the dunes in their natural state is that they represent a unique ecosystem with rare and endemic species found nowhere else in Israel. The dunes that once spread across 11 square kilometers have now been reduced to 2.3 square kilometers due to industrial pollution, agriculture and legal sand mining sanctioned by the ILA. The remaining 2.3 square kilometers of pristine sand dunes are the habitat for rare and endangered species of gerbils, geckos, beetles and spiders. The compromise reached between the ILA, the National Parks and Nature Reserve Authority and the Hevel Eilot Regional Council will allow the sand mining of another 0.7 square kilometers while preserving 1.6 square kilometers as a Nature Reserve.
Such a compromise may sound reasonable to many however it is based on the assumption that the value of the sand to be mined from the next track of dunes is greater than the value of preserving the Samar Dunes in tact. First I will address the value of extracting the sand and then I will address the value of leaving the sand in place.
If Judge Hendel had ruled against the ILA and cancelled the tender, would that spell the end of building in Eilat? Clearly building contractors will find alternative sources of sand for building. It is estimated that the Samar Dunes can yield another 500,000 tons of sand for building. On average, until the sand mining ceased in 2005, the Samar Dunes yielded about 35,000 tons a year for building purposes. The price per ton of sand from the Samar Dunes was approximately 10.00 NIS a ton. Today, building contractors in Eilat are buying sand from Mishor Rotem near Dimona at approximately 30.00 NIS a ton. The 20.00 NIS difference represents the increased costs of transporting the sand from Dimona to Eilat. On the assumption that contractors can continue to transport 35,000 tons of sand for building from Mishor Rotem to Eilat for the next 15 years, the additional cost to the building industry for not mining the Samar Dunes is the dune’s potential sand yield; 500,000 tons multiplied by the marginal transportation cost of bringing down the sand from Dimona; 20.00 NIS per ton. Therefore, the total value of the Samar Dune’s potential sand yield is:
500,000 tons of sand X 20.00 NIS per ton = 10,000,000 NIS
It is much more difficult to answer the question, “What is the economic value of leaving the sand in place?” The value of a natural resource is made up of both its use and non use values. The use value of the Samar Dunes as sand dunes (and not as a sand quarry) could be the value of preserving the dunes for tourism. There are methods for measuring the monetary value of tourism to natural areas like the Samar Dunes. I believe, however, that the use value of the Samar Dunes for tourism is relatively minor compared to the non-use or the existence value of this unique and endangered ecosystem. Economists also have methods for measuring the monetary value to the people of Israel for the continued existence (the non-use value) of the Samar Dunes but do we really need an economist to explain to us that 10 million NIS paid out over 15 years is a small price to pay for preserving in tact, this unique landscape, the last large block of natural sand dunes on the Israeli side of the Arava Valley?
Another alternative to trucking sand from Dimona or destroying the last large block of sand dunes on the Israeli side of the Arava border is to continue to dig deeper in the existing sand quarries where mining was ceased in 2005. Digging deeper in an already disturbed area could easily replace either the sand from Dimona, saving millions of shekels or the sand from the Samar Dunes saving a valuable and unique ecosystem. What are we waiting for?
David Lehrer
Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
Kibbutz Ketura
***
Read original article here [Hebrew]
PRINT
BACK TO TOP
