HaMaarag - Israel’s National Nature Assessment Program
HaMaarag is Israel’s National Nature Assessment Program. Its primary mission is to assess the state of nature in Israel and contribute to knowledge-based management of open landscapes, via continuous production of scientific data on Israel’s ecosystems and biodiversity. This knowledge is accessible both to decision-makers and the general public.
HaMaarag’s activities include operating long-term monitoring programs, ecological monitoring after major pollutions, Israel's National Ecosystem Assessment Program., and publishing the State of Nature report.
HaMaarag operates out of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University, and is a joint operation of organisations responsible for natural resource management in Israel - the National Parks Authority, The Ministry of the Environment and the Jewish National Fund (JNF).
Israel's National Program for Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring
HaMaarag's core program, Israel's National Program for Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring, was established in 2012, and monitors the flora and fauna in natural open landscapes across Israel. The Program was designed to enable identification of trends and changes in natural ecosystems. It provides data for The State of Nature report, and feeds an open-access scientific database to promote effective management of natural open landscapes and resources.
Israel's National Program for Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring Program covers nine geographical units, representing major natural ecosystems in Israel: Mediterranean maquis, planted conifer forests, grass and bush steppes, costal sand dunes, Mediterranean-desert transition zone, loess-covered steppes, Negev highlands, arid south and inner Negev sand dunes. In these ecosystems, HaMaarag is looking at five indicative groups: woody plants, birds, reptiles, arthropods and mammals.
In each two-years monitoring cycle, medium to large-sized mammals are monitored in 88 plots across Israel. Each plot consists of nine cameras in approximately 85 m apart, set in the field for 10 consecutive days.
