Caring about the environment doesn't have to mean taking weekends to clean beaches and traveling to Copenhagen for conferences. It can also mean learning about your surroundings and seeing to it that green spaces in even the most densely urban areas are kept unharmed. Hence the role of the Society for Protection of Nature in Israel, the country's leading nature protection outfit. In between doing advocacy work to help keep Israel's and Jerusalem's green areas green, and developing a groundbreaking map of said green spaces, SPNI also guides hikes and tours all over this fair land. While most people usually think of SPNI outings as roughing it in the bush, the group actually has a number of offerings around Jerusalem that stay well within the urbane confines of the city.

Two upcoming tours, to be given in English, will tackle the women that shaped Jerusalem and the Yemin Moshe / Mishkenot Sha'ananim areas. The first tour, on January 7th, will explore downtown Jerusalem in the context of the women who helped make the city what it is today.

The second tour, on January 11th, will focus on one of the city's more picturesque neighborhoods, Yemin Moshe, with it's trademark windmill.

Both tours will leave from SPNI's headquarters at Sergei's Courtyard near the Russian Compound. Sergei's Courtyard is also home to monthly free jazz concerts put on by SPNI as a way of bringing cultural offerings to more and more Jerusalemites.

SPNI's efforts are part of a wider trend within Jerusalem over the past few years that has seen the city majorly in support of all things green. Besides for the aforementioned green map, residents in the city recently banded together to save Gazelle Valley, one of best hiking spots within the city and a rare oasis among all the hustle and bustle. Communities have also begun sprouting their own communal gardens and the city has been at the forefront of several green initiatives, like turning out the lights for Earth Hour and promoting electric vehicles.