Since October 2023, the “Nature Heals” program has restored resilience in more than 125,000 Israelis in distress through the healing power of nature. The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) created this program by necessity when we had to provide emergency housing to hundreds of families in our nature field schools just after October 7th. 

After its incredible effectiveness was demonstrated, we began expanding this program to serve traumatized teens, displaced families and returning soldiers. 

A mother of an evacuated teen shared:

“At first, SPNI didn’t seem like the most obvious place to help us, but the Nature Heals program gave us exactly what we needed.”

Now, we’re asking for you to give today to support the hundreds of young Israelis who are asking to participate in this program before the end of the year. Israelis love and want this program to continue. Just last month, 506 Israelis donated the equivalent of $62,000. Now, they are asking SPNI’s international supporters to match their donations so that Nature Heals eco-therapy can continue. 

Your donation will enable a young person to participate in a Nature Heals Resilience Journey – four days of nature, support, and healing. 

One of these young people is Roi, a 16-year-old from a community near the Lebanon border. He and his family were evacuated from their home and spent many months living together in a single hotel room.

Roi has returned home – but he hasn’t yet returned to himself. He sleeps again in his own room. His father has finally come back from reserve duty. School has resumed. On the outside, everything looks normal. But inside, he is a storm.

Since being uprooted from his home and his life, Roi struggles to sleep. The anxiety doesn’t let him rest. He feels disconnected – from his friends, his family, himself. Routine has returned – but the trauma has not left.

Roi is not alone. Like him, thousands of displaced families, teens, and soldiers in Israel continue to face deep emotional struggles in the aftermath of the war. 

For many, the wound is still open – even months after returning to their homes.

You can help Roi and other teens like him by donating to SPNI’s Nature Heals program now.

What is a Resilience Journey?
Developed by SPNI’s educators together with experts from Oranim Academic College, this program supports teens coping with trauma and distress.

During an immersive four-day experience in nature – without news, without screens, without pretending to be okay – participants experience the healing power of movement, group connection, challenge, and open landscapes. Each teen has a role, takes on physical tasks, and steps outside routine to rediscover themselves – all with professional emotional guidance.

Through a docu-camera, participants film themselves and their peers – using this creative tool to begin processing what has remained unspoken. For many, this is their first opportunity to express their emotions and thoughts that have been bottled up and pushed deep inside.

This is not just a hike.
It’s a process.
A space to breathe. To find meaning. To begin again.

Our results speak for themselves:

• 90% of participants returned with a sense of relief
• 89% reported stronger ability to cope with future challenges
• 94% of parents noticed an improvement in their child’s sense of capability
• 100% of parents said they would send their child on another journey

And now, they need you.

Cost of a journey per participant = $600

To sponsor one day = $150

Goal: $62,000  by the end of September

With your support, we can reach the finish line.

Every donation = a journey
Every journey = an opportunity for healing

For a secure, tax-deductible donation, please click the Donate button above. Help us reach our goal – donate before the Jewish New Year, September 24th. 

At the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, we’ve been working for over 70 years to protect Israel’s environment, because we believe that protected wildlife, clean seas, and flowing rivers improve the quality of life for all of us. And we know that nature has the power to soothe, to strengthen, and to heal. That’s why we work to ensure that as many Israelis as possible can benefit from it – especially now.

With heartfelt thanks for your support,

Dan Alon
CEO, Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel