Green Spaces & Biodiversity

The Weizmann Greenway Project is a plan to preserve and protect green space at the Institute by creating a continuous green corridor across the entire campus, running from east to west. The project received a joint grant from the Council for Higher Education of Israel and the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Greenway plans include:

• An area spanning ~140 dunams (140,000 square meters) across campus
• Hundreds of diverse tree species, as part of an arboretum dedicated to education and research
• An ‘Israel Grove’ on 14 dunams featuring 25 local tree species, including endangered species
• Wetlands for water purification and to support water conservation
• Improved walkability across campus 

The Greenway Project was initiated and is overseen by the Construction and Engineering Division, together with the Green Campus Committee.

Our campus is a green haven within an urban area, covering roughly 580 dunams of open space, with approximately 6,300 trees of 200 different species. It provides refuge for a wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and plants.

In 2025, the Weizmann Institute, in partnership with the Davidson Institute, initiated an in-depth nature survey of our campus. The survey covered biodiversity at Weizmann, including unique and protected plant species and endangered mammals. 

Click here for the full report (in Hebrew).
Click here for a brief overview of the nature survey’s key findings (in Hebrew).

The survey was conducted by the Urban Nature Survey Unit at the Society for the Protection of Nature, under the guidance of the Weizmann Institute’s Office of Sustainability and the Construction and Engineering Division. The results provide decision-makers with essential information to plan and develop the area, while taking into account the natural landscape and its important ecological systems. 

The Weizmann Ornithology Club brings together nature enthusiasts to share knowledge and raise awareness of issues affecting birds and nature. 

• The club meets once a month, with meetings in English
• Meetings include presentations by Weizmann Institute researchers and students, and external guests
• Birdwatching tours are held throughout the year, on campus and offsite
• Members participate in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, a national monitoring project that tracks changes in bird populations

For more info or to join the club, contact Uri Moran at uri.moran@weizmann.ac.il.

To promote urban green spaces, climate change preparedness, and sustainable mobility

Weizmann’s Greenway is a project for the preservation of high-quality open spaces on the Weizmann Institute campus in Rehovot. The Greenway crosses the campus from west to east, on an area of approximately 140 dunams. Hundreds of trees of various species and new species not yet represented on campus will be planted in the Greenway. The trees will form an arboretum, planted according to their geographical origin for educational and research purposes. Among other initiatives, a hill of Israeli grove will be established on an area of ​​14 dunams, featuring 250 trees of 25 different species, some of which are endangered. Work will also be carried out to preserve the historic “Introduction Garden”: the site where the first subtropical trees (e.g. Avocado, Mangoes, Litchies etc.) that became major crops in Israel were introduced and tested. In addition, the Greenway is planned with biofilter systems, a nature-based solution for local water treatment and aquifer replenishing.

The Weizmann Institute seeks to leverage the Greenway program in the coming year: starting preservation work on the Introduction Garden, and adding shading in various strategic locations, particularly on walking routes. The shading will help to realize the vision of improved walkability on campus. In terms of climate change preparedness, shading provides a nature-based solution to reduce the urban heat island effect. 

The Greenway is in the advanced stages of planning. Tree planting has already begun, and in 2024, 197 trees have been planted on campus. In total, 1,347 trees will be planted as part of the project.

Planning, execution, and supervision of the project are led by the Construction and Engineering Division of the Weizmann Institute with a team of landscape architects, the Gardening Unit, botany experts, and the Green Campus Committee.

Bees play a crucial role in the ecosystem as key pollinators, supporting the reproduction of many wild plants and agricultural crops. Their activity is essential for maintaining biodiversity, ecosystem stability, and food security. Protecting bee populations therefore has a direct impact on both ecological health and sustainable agriculture.

At the Weizmann Institute, we are taking part in the worldwide effort of bees protection, in research and on-campus.  In January 2025, three beehives were installed east of the campus. Nir Montia, head of the Warehouse branch, who is an amateur beekeeper, volunteered to install and maintain the beehives. We are proud to share that approximately 20 kg of honey were harvested. The beehives also serve in education for groups who learn on the ecological role of bees and their biology.

More information about bee-related IES-funded research can be found in this link.

The Weizmann Institute’s Shelter Garden for Locally Endangered Plant Species was established in 2023 through the initiative of IES Fellow Gal Raviv, together with Prof. Tamir Klein of the Weizmann Tree Lab. The Shelter Garden aims to serve as the last rescue for Israel’s lost natural coastal ecosystems and plants. 

In addition to growing plants that currently endangered with the goal of replanting them in their natural habitats, the Shelter Garden will serve as a research hub for the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences and an educational center on plant biodiversity and ecology for school students and WIS visitors. 

The initiative focuses on three aspects:

1. The seeding, sprouting, growth, and preservation of red species in WIS greenhouses by mimicking natural habitats and developing reproduction programs at WIS. 
   
   During the first year of operation, 20 red species were seeded and began to grow. In addition, copies were made of the species, with WIS scientists observing their growth and survival in different environments to examine the effect of internal and external conditions at different stages of plant life. As a result, conclusions have been made about the adaptive growth of the various species, mainly in the stages of flowering and seed production.

2. Developing educational programs that involve the local community, schools, and campus visitors. The aim of these educational programs and activities is to promote awareness of the unique biodiversity of the coastal plain, as well as the importance of conservation efforts.

3. Replanting and establishing plants in their original habitats in nature reserves to ensure the wide range of endemic wild plant-based ecosystems. Seeds collected from plants at the WIS greenhouses are planned to be distributed at sites throughout the country.

Recently this year’s young seedlings were successfully transplanted from the greenhouse, served as our temporary nursery, into the permanent garden space, renovated with the support of the IES. The garden includes three terraces and is located behind the net house in the main greenhouse. 
The remaining seedlings (still in the greenhouse) will soon be transferred to their new home at “Hameshutaf Hof HaCarmel” High School in Ma’agan Michael, where students and teachers will establish their own shelter garden. 

For more information about the Weizmann Shelter Garden please visit this link.