This exhibit features the Mount Tabor oak, which was formerly common in many areas in central and northern Israel. The oak forest is rich with wildflowers and shrubs and is a habitat to many animals, including songbirds like those shown here on the tree - the great tit, the Eurasian jay, the common blackbird, and the European robin, which visit us in the winter.

Oak trees were chopped down in Israel to be used as wood as early as biblical times, but the most massive felling of trees, to the point that they were almost entirely extinct, was done by the Ottomans in Israel as firewood for their locomotive trains during World War I.

The photo at the bottom of the display shows the coal production process that used oak trees cut down in the forest. This technique began in Arab villages in Eretz Israel at the beginning of the century and continued to a degree until the end of the twentieth century. In addition to causing severe air pollution during the ongoing burning process, it also resulted in the felling of many trees that gradually disappeared from the natural forests. The loss of forests in Israel led to a loss of habitats and consequentially, the disappearance of many birds and animals who lived there. Felling the trees also changed the entire balance of food in the habitats of the region.

Muslims prohibited cutting down oak trees next to holy sites, such as tombs of sheiks, and thanks to this, ancient trees still grow next to them today. The British and the Templars prohibited cutting down trees in certain areas, such as Bethlehem of Galilee and Alonei Abba.  Indeed, the park forests were preserved in these areas and remain to this day. During the winter and spring seasons, they feature a beautiful carpet of plants and flowers.