After two decades of persistent public battle, Gazelle Valley in Jerusalem
opens to the public at an investment of NIS 90 million
The Jerusalem Municipality opens the first urban nature park of its kind in
Israel – a kind of nature reserve in the middle of the city – complete with
a herd of gazelles and dozens of varieties of other fauna and flora, ponds,
streams, walking trails and bicycle paths. The park will offer guided group
tours to nature lovers, who will also be able to borrow binoculars, mats and
deck chairs

‏24/03/2015 Jerusalem Municipality

The Jerusalem Municipality is currently putting the finishing touches on the
first nature park of its kind in Israel. Slated to open at the end of this
month, Gazelle Valley stretches over 250 dunams, and features five ponds,
both natural and manmade, two flowing streams, bird and rodent watching
areas, the natural habitat of untamed animals, a manmade island accessed via
wooden bridges, and the park’s namesakes – dozens of wild gazelles roaming
free.
The completion of the park is an unprecedented victory for the municipality
and the public over the real estate tycoons who sought to build high-rises
on the land. The park will soon be open to the public, seven days a week
with free admission – as of Monday, March 30. So far, the municipality has
invested NIS 22 million into the project and will put in another NIS 70
million in the next few years, from both the municipal budget and donations
raised through the Jerusalem Foundation.

The new city park represents an innovative urban approach of open spaces
located in the heart of the city, such as Central Park in New York,
Hampstead Heath in London, and Parc St. Jacques in France. This approach,
applied nowhere else in Israel, stresses the importance of creating a green
lung composed of natural greenery and hosting a variety of animals and birds
capable of living in the heart of an urban environment, to be enjoyed by
city residents as well as visitors from Israel and abroad.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said: "The park’s guiding principle is
revolutionary in terms of Israeli urban public spaces – a nature reserve in
the middle of Jerusalem. Gazelle Valley is one of the biggest and most
important Jerusalem projects in recent years, representing above all
community involvement in the city and the power of joint brainstorming and
planning by City Hall and residents. For us, the Gazelle Valley project
represents the direction in which we want to take the city: developing
Jerusalem's green spaces together and in partnership with the community and
with the backing of many municipal entities working to enhance the
environment and protect Jerusalem’s natural assets.”
In fact, over the years, the park, located in the city’s southwestern corner
at the foot of Highway 50 (Begin Boulevard) and Pat Junction, became a
symbol of the public and civil struggle for open spaces in the city, and is
considered by many Jerusalemites to be a kind of atonement for the scandal
of the Holyland affair.

In the past, the grounds were home to many fruit orchards, but in the 1980s
these were abandoned and the location acquired a new identity: it became
known as “gazelle valley” for the herd of gazelles that inhabited the site.
Over the years, the herd became trapped among busy highways, the Malha Mall
and various residential projects, with no habitat left. Because of harm
caused by human agents and stray dogs, the herd shrank to only five
gazelles.

As the herd was dying off, real estate developers “discovered” the spot and
applied for permission to build more high-rises there. In an unprecedented
move, various segments of Jerusalem’s population united – religious and
secular, old-timers and new immigrants, members of the entire span of the
political spectrum – with the help of the Society for the Protection of
Nature in Israel and other environmental organizations and social activists,
and began a persistent fight against planning and zoning authorities to
establish an urban nature park in the valley. Six years ago, Jerusalem Mayor
Nir Barkat joined the residents’ struggle, and it was decided to establish
the first urban nature park of its type in Israel.
Landscape architects from Israel and abroad paved walking trails and bicycle
paths, built a wading pool for young children, and set aside shaded spots
perfect for observing nature. In the future, the park will also feature an
orchard and a farm pond as well as an educational center devoted to the
mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella), which is native to this part of the
Middle East, and will be home to the Jerusalem Center for Urban Nature.
Gazelle Valley will also be part of the Jerusalem Municipality’s master
plan, featuring bicycle paths that will go all around the park and link up
with two already existing bicycle paths running along Sacher Park and Mesila
Park. At a future date, a wooden promenade will be built above Gazelle
Valley and link the park to the surrounding neighborhoods.

The fully accessible park will be open to the public all week long and will
charge no admission. At the entrance, it will be possible to borrow
binoculars, deck chairs and mats. In the future, it will be possible to buy
ready-to-eat picnic baskets as well.

The park will offer guided tours, educational activities on topics of the
environment and sustainability for school children, communal Friday evening
Sabbath services, small chamber music concerts played by local ensembles,
and more.
The park is being built by the Jerusalem Municipality with help from the
Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, the Jerusalem Development
Authority and the Jerusalem Foundation.