The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens

The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens is one of the largest botanical gardens in Israel; Spanning across almost 24 acres of green, lush, fascinating and varied native plants in the heart of Jerusalem, near the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University. This is a university botanical garden that acts as a research, education and training center and contains the largest and most extensive collection of living plants in Israel and the Middle East; over 6,000 species and varieties of plants from all over the world. The different species are presented in six separate plots according to their geographical region – South Africa, Europe, North America, Australia, Southwest, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Each of the plots simulates the landscape that grows in the area it represents, and therefore throughout the year, it is always possible to find a flowering and blooming garden. The garden is also used as a recreation center for adults and children and offers varied tours and cultural and artistic events.

The botanical garden focuses on three main areas:

Conservation of Nature

The garden serves as a safe haven for many endangered plants such as Salvia Bracteata, the Campanula Peregrina and more than three hundred other species of local plants that are endangered or are already extinct in Israel. These plants are grown in the garden for the purpose of conservation, research, breeding, display, and for educational purposes. The community even strives to reintroduce these plants back into nature and to influence public policy on the subject of nature conservation. In the garden plots, many plants are acclimatized in a controlled manner and distributed in Israel for use in agriculture, afforestation and gardening. In addition to the living collection (or vegetation collection), the botanical garden has a large seed collection, which is used for breeding plants in the garden plots and distribution to botanical gardens around the world.

Knowledge and Education

Adults and children who visit the garden on guided tours and independent walks, discover the richness of the flora in the Mediterranean in particular and everywhere in the world, and learn about the contribution and the crucial role of plants in human development, both physically and culturally, as well as the importance of preserving nature. In addition, cultural events and recreational activities are held throughout the year in various botanical and artistic subjects. The gardening and landscape school, which operates in the botanical gardens, trains professional gardeners and holds various courses in botanical science for the general public as well.

Community

The botanical garden maintains an environmental group in which dozens of Jerusalem-based organizations and entrepreneurs work together to promote a sustainable lifestyle in order to protect the environment. This is a meeting place for nature and man, in which man approaches the world of plants and learns how to respect and protect it. The garden offers a variety of social and community programs such as therapeutic gardening sessions, occupational rehabilitation, volunteer opportunities, botanical gardeners scholarship programs, guided tours, activities for senior citizens, farming and more.

We invite children and adults of all backgrounds and ages to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the garden and take part in the diverse activities that take place at the garden and learn how plants enrich the lives of the city’s residents and build bridges between its various parts.

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