A feast of green – trees, shrubs, flowers – opens before visitors’ eyes from the very moment they enter the 35-acre Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. Home to 7000 species of plants, the Gardens serve science, environment and community.
Adjacent to the Givat Ram Campus of the Hebrew University—and near the Knesset, the National Library of Israel and the Israel Museum—the previously undeveloped land was made available to the university in the 1980’s to create a botanical garden. From its early days until today, the governing body includes, along with the university, the Jerusalem Foundation, the Jerusalem Municipality, the Jewish National Fund and the family of the late Mendel Kaplan (South Africa).
In addition to being a unique park in Jerusalem, the Gardens serve a number of functions. One is conservation of plant species. Eighty percent of rare and endangered species from the entire Middle East are cultivated here. Alongside collection and propagation efforts, scientific research and discoveries are shared with botanical gardens around the world. There are five major planted areas with species from the Middle East, Asia, South Africa, Australia and North America. Jerusalem’s climate, cold in winter and hot in summer, allows them all to thrive. Water-efficient growing techniques are required, and lessons learned are shared.
No less important is the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens’ interaction with and service to the Jerusalem community.
Entrance to the Gardens is free for Jerusalem children. Nature-related educational programming is a central component, for schoolchildren from both West and East Jerusalem and using cultural texts as part of the educational experience. The Gardens participate in creating community gardens in all parts of the city, many in schools, about 250 per year. Adult education is served by 15 fully subscribed courses in a variety of subjects, whose topics are often renewed. Art that deals with botanical subjects is seen as a way to engage people and teach about nature.
The Gardens provide therapeutic experiences, of varying duration, to a number of special populations. The Gardens provide space for therapeutic activity for veterans dealing with trauma, using the botanical experience as a component. There are also courses for special needs children and children at risk. In addition, older adults volunteer in the gardens and the conservatory and are invited to special lectures.
Over 250,000 people visit annually. The numbers have grown significantly in recent years because of the dynamic programming modified to suit the times as needed, be it the Covid pandemic or war. Visitors come for the different trails that can be followed and for cultural and family activities that change over the course of the year. Some of these activities draw audiences of thousands of people. Altogether the visitors represent Jerusalem’s diverse populations – religious Jews, secular Jews and Arabs – as well as international visitors.