Israel, which has been waging a widespread campaign to get Americans to travel there, has jumped on the ecotourism bandwagon by transforming the 2,000-acre Hiriya garbage dump on the outskirts of Tel Aviv into what’s now called Ayalon Park, a recreational green space with trees, gardens, hiking trails – and a 75-acre recycling center. Though that’s the largest ecotourism project in the country’s history, the nation has a few others in the works: $6 million worth of new bicycling routes, including the 750-mile Israel Bike Trail, as well as improvements to hiking trails such as the Lower Galilee region’s 580-mile Israel National Trail.
-- Avital Binshtock
Photo: Sunrise on Masada
Kibbutz Lotan's Center for Creative Ecology offers unique professional Permaculture and EcoVillage design courses. The Center along with UMass Amherst and Living Routes also runs a college credit program incorporating environmental and social justice training and action entitled "Peace, Justice and the Environment". Lotan is a leader in earth, strawbale and recycled building and is well known by birders for its migratory bird park and professional guides. www.birdingisrael.com . The kibbutz is still a commune, so visitors eat with members in the communal dining hall and are welcome to visit all of the eco-minded facilities.
Posted by: Alex Cicelsky | July 01, 2009 at 03:18 AM
The Kibbutz also offers a gateway to all of the natural beauty and archeology of Israel's Arava Southern Desert. www.kibbutzlotan.com
Posted by: Kibbutz Lotan EcoTourism | July 01, 2009 at 03:21 AM