The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens needs your help.
The global pandemic COVID-19 has led the Ministry of Health to instruct us to close the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens to the public. We, like many others, are unsure how long this restriction will be in place, but for every week that goes past we are missing out on our much needed self- income to sustain our vital operations. As most of you are aware this is one of the most popular times of the year to visit the botanical gardens due to the incredible flora in bloom. We have had to cancel all events, programs, lectures, tours and so much more. Almost our entire team is now on unpaid leave and we are relying on merely 3 gardeners (less than half the required amount) to maintain our huge and complex collection of live plants, including over 400 rare and endangered species, spread across 30 acres.
When thinking of how to help during the pandemic, it is easy to forget the tremendous detrimental effect it is also having on our nature.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
At the botanical gardens we minimize spraying herbicides to allow the natural and naturalized wildflower meadows to flower and go to seed. As spring ends all of these areas will dry out rapidly, and must be cut back into the soil, or they will become a dangerous fire hazard. cutting down a 13 hectares meadow is a full time task for our garden team.
Another crucial job that begins with the dry season, is the repair and activation of all our irrigation systems. Due to the diverse wildlife in the gardens (jackals, porcupines and wide range of birds) our irrigation systems have to be constantly maintained to ensure adequate water is supplied to over 6000 species of plants in the gardens' collection.
For this to happen in time, we need to bring back to work more of our gardening team. We need YOUR urgent support in raising the funds to enable this.
You can help by:
1. Buying a membership (even if you do not live in Israel and are not able to enjoy the gardens frequently).
2. Making any donation you can
3. Sponsoring an educational garden in one of the many schools we work with
5. Sharing this request with anyone you know that may be able to help
Thank you for reading and for considering to support of the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens during this incredibly challenging time for us all.
Most importantly, please take care of yourselves and your loved ones.
Stay safe and (although we do not usually give this advise) STAY HOME!
