Jerusalem, Nov 28 (IANS): Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection has announced a national plan to preserve and develop ecological corridors throughout the country.

Such corridors allow the free passage of animals and the distribution of plants amid the accelerated construction which reduces the open natural areas, said a Ministry in a statement on Sunday.

The corridors contribute significantly to the resilience of ecosystems and biodiversity, especially amid the climate crisis, the statement added.

The plan maps the barriers that disrupt the functioning of the ecological corridors and provides targeted tools and recommendations regarding issues of agriculture, animal crossings, forest and vegetation, light pollution, promenades etc, Xinhua news agency reported.

It will also develop solutions for narrow bottleneck areas threatened by lighting and noise, intrusion of invasive species etc.

In the first phase, the plan will focus on a 50-km strip in eastern Israel, which is part of an area with the most intensive construction.

It also aims to improve the function of the bottlenecks in the ecological corridors in Israel's Mediterranean region, according to the statement.