Eco-tourism, environment, ecology, and education are good starters for ABC Wednesday's E-Day.
The Jerusalem Bird Observatory is a wild acre in a prime location at the heart of the city.
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Even its buildings are ecologically sound, very "green."
See the roof of the Visitors Center? It looks like a prairie!
When the winter rains come that will all hopefully be green and flowering.
It is a real "living building."
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Enlarge the photo and you can see the red tile roofs of the Nachlaot neighborhood in the distance.
Inside the bird watching hide.
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Here is what everybody was looking at.Birds on the trees, birds on the birdbath and the feeder.
There is also a pond out there.
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Behind this special wall will be nest boxes and bat boxes.You can see flecks of bright colors. These are the recycled colored bottle caps the material is made of!
Behind the rustic bench, the new gift shop offers nature books and T shirts, maps, and many nice things for kids too..
The JBO is the national bird-banding (ringing) center. In fact, they have a USAID grant for a joint Israeli-Palestinian ringing project.
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Let's let their website explain:
"The JBO has four main goals: (1) environmental education (2) conservation research (3) eco-tourism (4) creation of a common forum for Jews, Christians, and Moslems. This project is the first of its kind in Israel and promises to fill a vital role currently lacking in Jerusalem's environmental framework."
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"Birds know no geographical nor religious boundaries. Their conservation and the pleasure they offer are a true common denominator that can bring people together: Jews, Christians and Moslems.
The JBO is situated physically and symbolically in the heart of Jerusalem, between two of the most important institutions in the State of Israel: the Knesset and the Supreme Court.
The JBO serves as a meeting place for people from all religions willing to practice tolerance between one another and towards the environment.
By promoting joint conservation and educational projects, the JBO is a useful tool for bringing people together. "
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More photos, more birds, at the 21c Israelity blog.
And a good video, 3 minutes, at YouTube, including the new-born babies of the JBO's resident porcupine!
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Everyone speaks of ecology and environment. Not too many do anything practical about it. The Earth itself know no boundary.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic post, with so much informative data. It is amazing how lovely eco-friendly architecture can look.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for eco-friendliness in my own life.
The photos are wonderful.
Very beautiful post for E-Day.
ReplyDeleteYou have always so many attractive subjects to show us, Dina.
Shalom, Dina! Thanks for you comment! I missed you (haven't been having much time lately to visit other blogs...)
ReplyDeleteLove, from sunny Lisbon!
what brilliant e post,
ReplyDeleteenvironment is a key to our survival,
thoughtful reflections...
It's a good thing that we are all more aware of the environment and ecology these days. Interesting post, as usual. :D
ReplyDeleteexcellent take on the ecotourism, especially.
ReplyDeleteROG, ABC Wednesday team
this was educative tourism :) good one..
ReplyDeleteMy ABC W E
Glad to see another post on ecotourism and the environment and ecology!
ReplyDeleteWe certainly need more facilities like this to raise environmental awareness among the youths. I like the concept of living building and that "grassed" roof. Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteBirds and wall-binders...always something interesting, Dina
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha from Waikiki :)
Comfort Spiral
Informative and enjoyable. Thanks for a great journey through your Es.
ReplyDeleteA living building! That is the coolest thing I have ever seen. LOVE that! What a great e post! Very, very nice.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a lot of E's covered, Dina. Good post!
ReplyDeleteVery intersting, as you know I speak to birds easily. Is that thing in the last picture a bench?
ReplyDeleteBring us back when that rooftop is green and lush. What a terrific place. We need more of these.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I fixed the link on my blog today. Thanks for the heads up!
V
Hello Dina,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting your post. Congratulations.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Greetings from Roberto.
Interesting - and I love the blind made of recycled bottle caps! Ingenious.
ReplyDeleteWe have a footbridge near here made from recycled aluminium cans!
J - ABC Team
I would gladly do some bird watching there! You know how much I love wildlife.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely marvelous! I would definitely want to go there. I especially like that bird hide. I can imagine sitting there for hours seeing what kind of birds come to perch. The eco-nature of the center is laudable.
ReplyDelete