Wetlands Lost and Found in the Levant - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 57

FIGURE 6.5 Signage showing the trail system in the Hula Nature Reserve.

populations. Over time the agricultural benefits fell and eventually led to large areas
becoming neglected. The loss of the phytoremediation in the once extensive wet-
lands allowed nutrients to leak from the system and enter the Sea of Galilee, Israel's
major water supply, where they were the trigger for accelerating eutrophication there.
More than any other concern, it was this downstream water quality problem that
became the major motivation for the Hula Restoration Project.

WETLANDS FOUND
There were six major goals of the Hula Valley Restoration Project:

• Prevent nutrient escape and transport to, and the resulting eutrophication

of, the Sea of Galilee.