There has been a sharp decrease in illegal logging of trees for firewood over the last few months, due to a Jewish National Fund program which offers free wood to residents of Druze and Arab villages.

The wood comes from trees cut down by the JNF as part of the routine maintenance of forests.

The JNF has so far handed out roughly 1,500 tons of wood, and intends to continue with the distributions due to high demand.

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Illegal logging has taken its toll on forests in the north and near Jerusalem in recent years. There have been local attempts to distribute free wood, but this is the first time it is being done on a large scale - and the results are noticeable, JNF inspectors said.

Nonetheless, JNF inspectors found a large concentration of felled trees near Aminadav, in the Jerusalem hills. Upon further investigation, the inspectors found other illegal logging points in the area. The inspectors believe the trees were cut down by Palestinians for heating purposes.

In the West Bank, where the JNF does not operate, the illegal systematic logging of firewood has continued unabated in protected forests and in the northern Judean Desert.

In recent months, JNF inspectors have caught illegal loggers in the Carmel Forest near Haifa, where roughly 300 pine trees where cut down, as well as near Hadera.

In addition to the illegal logging of trees for firewood, trees are being cut down illegally for the purpose of clearing areas slated for construction.

In Holon, a eucalyptus grove that has existed for decades was cut down in recent weeks, and the JNF believes the purpose was to clear the area for construction.

A similar problem has been discovered in recent weeks in the Galilee as well.