Israel

 Introduction

By a resolution on the International Year of the Ocean, the Government of Israel has appointed a Committee of the Director Generals of all relevant ministries, chaired by the Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, to coordinate its activities to promote public awareness of the need for conservation of marine and coastal resources. The Committee is coordinated by the Director General of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research which is the central national organization for marine research.

The Committee adopted an IYO action plan with special emphasis on educational and youth activities. The main activities and events are listed below (last update 20 July, 1998).

 Activities and Events

1. Launching of a marine sciences curriculum for upper grade high school students (by the Ministry of Education and Culture).
2. Preparation of educational kits and work books for youth activities by the sea emphasizing marine environmental protection (by the Ministry of the Environment, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and the Nature Reserves and National Parks Authority).
3. Inauguration of a Marine Sciences Teaching Laboratory for science-oriented youth at the National Institute of Oceanography, Haifa (Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research).
4. Establishment of a Marine Challenge Center for combined marine educational and sports activities at the Mevoot-Yam High School.
5. Organization of a drawing competition on marine themes among elementary school students, and a poster competition on marine environmental protection among professional high school and college students (by the Ministry of the Environment).
6. Organization of public and youth beach clean-up campaigns (by the Ministry of the Environment, the Nature Reserves and National Parks Authority and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel in cooperation with local municipalities and the industrial sector).
7. Activities to promote the declaration of marine nature reserves and preparations for the 1999 Nature Protection Week which will be dedicated to the marine environment (by the Nature Reserves and National Parks Authority).
8. Establishment of the Israel Society for Oceanography and Marine Sciences (a joint initiative of the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Elat and Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research).
9. Award of a special IYO grant for an innovative marine research project (by the Ministry of Science).


Conferences, Workshops, Lectures, Exhibitions, etc.

10. Public Lecture Series: Travels in coral reefs; the Land of Israel Museum, Tel Aviv. Organized by Tel Aviv University and the Israel Divers Association.
11. Art exhibition: "In the Port", the National Maritime Museum, Haifa. Dedicated to Israel's 50^th Anniversary and the International Year of the Ocean.
12. Symposium on the Israeli Mediterranean Continental Margin at the National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Haifa.
13. Public symposium on Israel's Policy for Coastal Zone Management. Organized by the Ministry of the Interior.
14. Sessions on marine environmental quality and marine ecology at the 29^th Annual Conference of the Israel Society for Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheba.
15. International Symposium on Application of Advanced Biochemicals and Molecular Methodologies to Seabream Aquaculture and its impact on the environment. Organized by Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Elat.
16. International Workshop on Offshore Technologies for Aquaculture, organized by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.