Legalities of Shelling in Israel
by Henk Menis


From time to time I receive a question whether it is possible to collect molluscs in Israel. It is not easy to give a straight forwarded answer to that question because in Israel the whole Phylum Mollusca is protected by law. This includes land-, freshwater and marine molluscs: recent and fossil. In the case of recent molluscs, it does not matter whether they are alive or dead.
According to this law even terrestrial snails which may turn into agricultural or horticultural pests are protected! The same is true for freshwater molluscs which may serve as potential intemediate hosts for Schistosomiasis like Bulinus truncatus.(Less than half a Century ago Schistosomiasis still occurred in Israel!)
According to the same law it is even prohibited to enter Israel with molluscs collected for example in Sinai, Egypt. Rangers of the Nature Protection Authority in cooperation with customs officers may confiscate such material!
So how it is possible to collect molluscs in Israel?
Permits to collect molluscs in Israel may be obtained from the following authority:

Israel Nature & National Parks Protection Authority
3 Am VeOlamo Street
Givat Shaul
IL-95463 Jerusalem
Israel
E-mail address: info@parks.org.il


An application should state the reason for collecting, what kind of molluscs, the localities, etc.
It is advisable to add a letter of recommendation by a known institute (university/museum) to each application.
A report has to be submitted concerning the collected material within a certain time period.
Any application should be submitted well in advance of any planned visit to Israel.

The Israel Nature & National Parks Protection Authority has a Web-site at: www.parks.org.il

This information is given in order to avoid any problems or disappointments. Personally I am not involved in granting a license for collecting molluscs in Israel, although sometimes they ask for my opinion.

Best regards,
Henk K. Mienis
mienis@netzer.org.il

 

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