In Yokneam in northern Galilee, a one-of-a-kind eco-farm allows people with disabilities to press grapes, bake pita and explore the outdoors. The project is at the heart of LOTEM, a unique organization dedicated to making natural and environmental learning accessible to people with disabilities who live in or visit Israel. Thirty years ago, when LOTEM founder Amos Zvi noticed a group of visually disabled hikers on a trail, no accessible trails for persons with disabilities existed. Today, thanks to the advocacy …More

The years since Jerusalem's botanical garden's first opened have flown by and the gardens have grown from their original enclave in the Nayot neighborhood of Jerusalem to an area of over 13 dunams. Tucked amongst the buildings of the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of which it is a part, the Botanical Gardens has become one of the city’s most magical—and often hidden-treasures. The Gardens were created in 1953 primarily as a scientific testing ground for local botanical species. Today, …More

Israel hardly suffers from lack of publicity in mainstream media and publications. But now even its nature hikes are getting in on the publicity feeding frenzy. National Geographic magazine recently named the Israel National Trail (INT) one of the "World’s Best Hikes." The special section focuses on 20 “epic trails,” or hikes that capture the essence of a location’s history and culture. The INT, a 620-mile trail that extends from southern Israel all the way to its North, was highly …More

Yitshak Ben-Mohe first thought he spotted an odd rock on a recent scouting hike in the Sheizaf Reserve. “I saw a strange rock that frightened a group of Babblers,” Ben-Mohe, a graduate student at Tel Aviv University, recalled. “The birds circled the rock as if it was a predator and tried to attack it. Then, it suddenly opened its beak and revealed itself." Ben-Mohe had come upon a rare site, a nubian nightjar. Once thought to be extinct, researchers now believe that less than thirty pairs of the …More