On 13 November articles appeared stating that the process of the tender for quarrying sand at the Sands of Samar will continue in the normal way, after the Eilot District Regional Council's engineer confirmed that most of the sand at the previous site has been taken and that the Israel Land Administration (ILA) has met the plan's criteria.  The head of the ILA, Yeron Bibi, decreed that the tender will proceed normally and close on 16 November, following a letter from the Council's engineer reinforcing the ILA's position that the tender for quarrying sand from the site should be issued as per the approved plan.  The engineer said that a legal construction permit can be issued after the winner of the tender is announced.

A few weeks previously the ILA had postponed the closing of the tender due to the intervention of environmental groups contending that there was still sand to be had at the previous quarry site, and that this should be used up before putting out the tender for a new area.  The letter issued by the Regional Council's engineer, architect Yoni Farjoun, supports the geological opinion saying that 80 percent of the sand in Areas A and B that were quarried in the past have been used up and that therefore a new tender needs to be issued. 

However, on 17 November the environmental group Adam Teva VeDin appealed to the Administrative Court in Be'er Sheva petitioning it to cancel the plan allowing quarrying of the sand in Samar and to stop the tender issued by the ILA to quarry there.  The appeal asked for an interim order to freeze the tender and forbid issuance of a construction permit.

[Photo courtesy of Aviad Bar] 

The Sands of Samar are beautiful and unique sand dunes, and the only significant sandy area of its type remaining on the Israeli side of the Arava Valley.  It comprises the last remaining habitat for several protected plants and animals, some of which are on the ‘red list of species on the verge of extinction.  The Lesser Gerbil (Gerbillus gerbillus) is one example, the Middle Eastern Short-fingered Gecko (Stenodactylus doriae) another (above), and the Arabian horned viper (Cerastes gasperettii) a third. 

[Photo courtesy of Aviad Bar]

As agriculture and quarrying encroaches on the isolated sandy habitat, some inhabitants of the dunes are gone forever, such as the Sand Cat (Felis margarita) or the Rüppell's Fox (Vulpes rueppelli) who once inhabited the Sands of Samar and are now replaced by the jackal and common fox.  Photos of some of the inhabitants of this unique ‘island of sand', who have no other habitat if the sand dunes are too far encroached on , can be seen at http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/776/395.html  

The Sands of Samar once covered 7 square kilometers (7000 dunams) but, due to runoff from Timna Mines, agricultural use, and sand quarrying, only a third of their area remains.  On over a third of that remaining part, a plan for quarrying to be done in stages was applied.  Part of it was quarried and the plan then expired.  It was renewed much as the original, but meanwhile a national statute (TAMA) regarding classification of areas for construction, development, and preservation throughout the country took effect.  The TAMA designated the Samar sands as a "landscape area" and an "area of high landscape and environmental sensitivity".  Allowing quarrying of the area contravenes its designation as per the TAMA, according to the legal counsel of the environmental concerns wishing to protect the sands.  

Adam Teva VeDin adds that the Nature Reserves and Parks authority never approved the quarry permit in any case, something required in such instances, and that no real examination of the need to quarry there was carried out, such as alternative quarry sites or alternative materials for construction.  Since quarrying at Samar would in any case meet local construction needs for only 5-7 years, permanent destruction of such a unique natural site and rare habitat for already-endangered flora and fauna seems a terribly heavy price to pay for ‘progress'.  According to Adv. Nirit Lotan, "We believe that there is absolutely no logic in such a short-term solution at such a heavy environmental cost, and that the Israel Lands Administration that manages the land as a public trust is also obligated to preserve public natural treasures and not just to reap quick profits from them."