Israel Nature and Parks Authority

Israel Nature and Parks Authority
Agency overview
FormedApril 1998
HeadquartersJerusalem, Israel
EmployeesAbout 1800, out of which 800 permanent
Annual budget516,470 NIS (2021)
Agency executive
  • Raya Shurki, Director
Parent departmentMinistry of Environmental Protection

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority (Hebrew: רשות הטבע והגנים, Rashut Hateva Vehaganim; Arabic: سلطة الطبيعة والحدائق) is an Israeli government organization that manages nature reserves and national parks in Israel, the Golan Heights and parts of the West Bank. The organization was founded in April 1998, merging two organizations (The National Parks Authority and the Nature Reserves Authority) that had managed the nature reserves and national parks separately since 1964. The director of the Authority is Raya Shurki.

Hula Valley nature reserve

The symbol of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority is the ibex, a mountain goat similar to the antelope.[1] One of the missions of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority is enforcing Israeli wildlife protection laws.[2]

  1. ^ Bard, Mitchell Geoffrey; Schwartz, Moshe (2005). 1001 Facts Everyone Should Know about Israel. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-4358-4.
  2. ^ Magory Cohen, Tali; King, Roni; Dolev, Amit; Boldo, Amitzur; Lichter-Peled, Anat; Kahila Bar-Gal, Gila (2013). "Genetic characterization of populations of the golden jackal and the red fox in Israel". Conservation Genetics. 14: 55–63. doi:10.1007/s10592-012-0423-1.