Taiwan has donated 1,000 saplings to Israel, with a treeplanting ceremony held in a desert area of southern Israel on 18 December.

The ceremony was jointly presided over by Taiwan’s representative to Israel, Chi Yun-sheng, and Michael Ben Abu, the director of the Israel Fundraising Department at the Jewish National Fund. Around 1,000 pomegranate, fig and eucalyptus trees were prepared for planting in the Negev Desert in southern Israel.

Chi planted the first eucalyptus in the desert, while Ben Abu explained that to thrive in the dry desert environment, the trees must be drought-resistant, and that the best time to plant them is after rain, when the soil is moist and soft. To maximise the survival rate to 95%, regular watering is needed in the first six months, he added.