Important Bird Areas in Palestine IBA's

In September 1998, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and Palestine. Through its Children

for the Protection of Nature in Palestine (CPNP) Program inaugurated

the Environmental Education Center in Palestine (EECP) in the framework of its Education

for Awareness and Involvement activities. The aim of the center is to provide a meeting place for students,

teachers and the public as well as to promote EE concepts and educational activities

in the interests of nature conservation.

Its objectives are notably to:

Contribute to establishing a museum of natural history in Palestine.
Serve as a base for nature conservation and as a bird-watching center.
Provide educational aids for EE.
Establish a resource center for producing EE materials.
Serve as a forum and networking for local, regional and international exchange and cooperation.
Promote responsible Eco-tourism in Palestine.

The center consists of the following sections:

Natural History Museum: with a collection of over 2,500 specimens of fossils, rocks, fauna and a herbarium.

Environmental Exhibition: developed jointly with the European Natural Heritage Fund (Euronature)/Germany.

Computer Laboratory.

Botanical Garden (under construction) which will consists of five parts:

1-Pond for attraction of Birds.

2-Mediterranean Trees.

3-Biblical Trees.

4-Outdoor Classroom.

5-Nature Garden

Specialized Library (planned) with documentary as well as audio-visual materials

on the Environment to serve as a resource center for researches, educators, students and relevant institutions

Plans are under way for the construction of an additional building to house notably an audio-visual room,

a specialized library as well as rooms for experiments.