A new bike trail was inaugurated on the banks of the Kishon River on January 10, 2008, with the participation of the Minister of Environmental Protection, the Minister of Tourism, the Chairman of the Keren Kayemeth Le'Israel-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) and the Chairman of the Kishon River Authority. The inauguration ceremony for the Amakim-Yagur river trail in the Ha'amakim Park is part of a master plan for the development of the area surrounding the Kishon River as a tourism park. The Kishon River has undergone extensive rehabilitation in recent years, in accordance with a long-term master plan which was adopted by the Israeli government in 2001. As part of the tourism development plan for the Ha'amakim Park, a cornerstone was laid for a hiking trail along the banks of the river which is planned to run four kilometers. The trail will be adapted for bikers and will constitute a segment of an entire trail network along the Kishon River, from the area of Kfar Baruch upstream until the mouth of the river in Haifa. Stage A of the river trail project has already been completed, spanning a length of one kilometer. Stage B will now be initiated, at a length of another three kilometers. The funds for the project, some one and a half million shekels, will be contributed by the Kishon River Authority, the KKL-JNF, the National Tourism Company and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, with the help of the Zevulun Regional Council and the Kishon Drainage Authority. More than three million shekels have already been invested in recent years by the KKL-JNF and Kishon River Authority in developing the region, planting trees, establishing parking areas, constructing seating corners, picnic tables and more. As part of the rehabilitation process, the Kishon River Authority is developing the river banks into parks and hiking and biking trails designed to provide the public with leisure and recreational activities. Furthermore, the Authority has been implementing a project on the restoration of fauna which once populated this river (e.g., soft turtle, Lavnun lissner and the freshwater snail Melanopsis). The river trails are part of a national system of river bank trails extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. At present, due to the restoration project, thousands of visitors are already enjoying the river. The attractiveness of the site will be further enhanced with the completion of Stage B of the project. Environmental Protection Minister, MKGideon Ezra: "Rehabilitation of the Kishon River is a top priority in my ministry. The rehabilitation process is a continuous effort whose fruits we are gradually beginning to see. The Amakim-Yagur river trail is an example of a project which brings the public closer to the river. We will not rest until we complete the mission of purifying the river and restoring life to its waters and banks. KKL-JNF World Chairman Efi Stenztler: "The biking trail in the Ha'amakim Park is the fulfillment of a vision. Who would have believed that the Kishon River area, a symbol of pollution, would be transformed into a tourism site with biking trails and camping sites for countryside recreation" The Ha'amakim-Yagur river trail joins many other cycling trails which we have blazed and signposted from the Galilee Panhandle in the north to the Timna Park in the south. Mr. Robert Reuven, Chairman of the Board of the Kishon River Authority: The Kishon is on the map. From now on, residents of Israel, young and old, will be able to walk along the Kishon River and observe natural assets and waterfowl while also witnessing the river rehabilitation process, until we renew its days as of old."
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