Community Events in Nature Reserves

Community Events in Nature Reserves

The project aims at raising environmental awareness in Palestinian society through community events held in nature reserves. These events develop a sense of belonging and responsibility towards the nature reserves, especially in Area C, and the events use the Mahmiyat.ps website as an environmental education tool. The project targets Palestinian residents from all over the West Bank including families, children, women and students. Different activities are implemented during these events to demonstrate the potential of nature reserves for ecotourism. Some examples of our activities include birdwatching tours, flora and fauna identification, planting native species and cleaning campaigns.

More than 3,000 participants starting in 2017 currently have visited 25 nature reserves and hot biodiversity areas. The great success of these community events was providing the communities with their first connection and engagement with nature, as well as explaining their environmental significance. The large turnout at these events empowered advocacy groups to exert pressure and influence decision-makers to develop master plans for the protection of the nature reserves. In addition, environmental civil society organizations and youth groups each initiated their own outdoor projects and activities  in the nature reserves.

Project Partners: The Envrionment Quality Authority, The Palestine Society for Environment and Sustainable development and other partners.