The bird sanctuary in the heart of a city
The Bird-watching Centre in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park’s Rosh Tzippor Forest is now reality thanks to JNF Australia and one of its major donors.
In November last year KKL-JNF held a ceremony to unveil the plaque at the park, in the presence of major Australian donor Marc Besen.
93-yr-old Marc Besen from Melbourne, Australia said at the time: “When I was invited to take part in the establishment of Rosh Tzippor, I was very excited about the idea.”
In November….
And in June 2017
The new avian observatory, called Rosh Tzippor in Hebrew or Bird Head in English, is located in the Yarkon Park in the heart of the Tel Aviv metropolis, and sprawls over some 8 acres of trees, greenery and wetland. The park was a collaborative work between the Keren Kayemet Le’Israel-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) with the support of the Tel Aviv municipality. The site, which is situated alongside the junction of the Yarkon and Ayalon streams, was once home to a rich variety of vegetation, birds and other wildlife. Environmentalists say that it has great potential to be rejuvenated to its former state.
The purpose of the new observatory is to attract the broadest variety of birds while maintaining the health and ecological safety of the area, which is located in a central part of Tel Aviv. The new attraction includes bathing pools for birds, a system of man-made streams of varying width and depth, and a Biofilter facility.
The park includes a number of walking, running and biking trails, which are convenient for the whole family and are handicap-accessible. Children can enjoy the amusement facilities made of wood, zip-lines, rope bridges, swings and carousels.
KKL-JNF executed the park’s construction with the help of top consultants from all the relevant planning areas, including unique fields such as water ecology, river vegetation, bird watching and more.
The cost of establishing the center, NIS 8 million, was backed by friends of JNF Australia, with a significant amount donated by Marc Besen, who has been a life-long supporter of the state of Israel.
