SPNI’s summer day camps offer Israeli children a safe and supportive space to reconnect with nature, learn new skills, and spend time with peers. Through activities like hikes, birdwatching, and field adventures, kids build confidence, resilience, and a sense of normalcy. The camps reach children across the country, providing diverse options for all ages and interests. Families report high engagement, with many children excited to return and participate in follow-up programs. These camps help kids of all ages and backgrounds heal, grow, and regain joy in their everyday lives.
Nature Heals
Eco-Therapy to Strengthen Israelis’ Mental Health
SPNI has launched a series of eco-therapy programs to help the high number of Israelis suffering trauma after October 7th. There are programs for all ages, families and individuals, and a special program for traumatized teens.
Read the latest report from Nature Heals.
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Program Activities
Nature Heals is a growing, adaptable program that changes as the needs of traumatized Israelis change. The activities listed here are just a glimpse into this evolving work.
Resilience Journeys for Traumatized Youth
The Resilience Journeys program is a four-day immersive nature experience that helps teens rebuild confidence, resilience, and connection after trauma. Led by SPNI counselors, participants take on daily responsibilities such as cooking, navigating, and leading activities, while also engaging in physical challenges and group discussions designed to foster growth and healing. A unique feature of the program is its docu-education component, where teens film their journey and use the camera as a safe space to share feelings, later creating a short film to show family and friends. The program has shown powerful results: 78% of participants report increased capability and reduced stress, while 94% of parents noted greater confidence and 100% would send their child again. Launched with support from the Jewish Federations of North America and other donors, this program is now seeking additional funding to expand its impact.
Eco-Therapy Retreat for Combat Soldiers
SPNI, Sheba Medical Center and the Eilat Municipality have agreed to establish an eco-therapy retreat for IDF soldiers who need time to process their experiences before returning to their routine. Located on the grounds of our Eilat Field School on the shores of the Red Sea, experts in trauma treatment will provide professional psychological therapy in a peaceful, natural setting using this cutting-edge combination of trauma treatment with our eco-therapy expertise.
Outdoor Summer Camps for Children
Nature-Based Healing Trips for Displaced Families
At least 250,000 Israelis from northern and southern regions have been forced to flee their homes due to Hamas and Hezbollah attacks. The Israeli government has evacuated many of these people to hotels, particularly in Eilat, the Dead Sea, and the Carmel Coast. These are the most traumatized Israelis, many who have lost family members as well as their homes and businesses. Without school and work, they are in deep need of support. Collaborating with their assigned social workers, the Nature Heals initiative guides these distressed families through Israeli nature sites that provide them a reminder of the beauty and resilience of life. The nature trips explore various landscapes, including birding sites, rewilded wetlands, forests, deserts, mountains, rivers, and beaches, leveraging nature’s healing power to help the participants. The Nature Heals eco-therapy program provides respite, reduces anxiety, and enhances mental resilience for as many evacuees as possible.
Supporting Reservists and their Families
More than 300,000 reservists have been called up, leaving behind their partners and children.
As the war continues the mental toll of those on the homefront continues to build. Particularly for young families where one parent is now single parenting and working while constantly fearing for their partner’s safety.
We are partnering with municipalities, regional councils and the IDF to provide eco-therapy activities specifically for reservists and their families. These family-friendly activities are close to home. Parents get to exercise in fresh air while our guides lead screen-free activities for the children.
Restorative Nature Experiences for the General Public
The sad reality of the October 7th attacks is that everyone in Israel was affected. In an effort to provide eco-therapy to the general public, and more than just to those directly impacted, SPNI organizes and provides guided nature trips all weekends and holidays, and plans to continue. These trips are free to everyone, with the hopes that as many people as possible will be able to heal through the power of nature. These experiences are all conducted in line with Homefront Command guidance.
Featured activities include:
- walking tours in Jerusalem’s Gazelle Valley
- birdwatching along the Carmel coast
- guided hikes in Ein Gedi
- night lantern tours near Eilat
- live bird ringing demonstrations in Jerusalem and Eilat
Nature on Demand
SPNI helps film, edit and narrate nature documentaries for online viewing as part of the Nature Heals initiative. These movies feature virtual tours of many of Israel’s most popular nature spots and hidden treasures, providing members of the public with small doses of nature whenever needed.
The Rationale and Science Behind Nature Heals
As a result of the tragic October 7th attacks, the hostage crisis and the ongoing war, at least one in three Israelis are suffering from PTSD symptoms. The tightly knit community of Israel is intricately connected, and with over 1,200 deaths, sexual violence, and additional indescribable atrocities, everyone has been detrimentally affected in some capacity. The trauma has become contagious, passed through constant over exposure to the barbaric and deeply disturbing Hamas videos, news reports and social media. In addition, the recent 12-day war with Iran and ongoing tensions have compounded fear and anxiety, leaving many Israelis traumatized by both direct and looming threats, intensifying the need for support. There is a clear need to provide therapeutic rehabilitation to large numbers of Israelis.
Director of Mental Health Services for Israel’s Health Ministry, Dr. Gilad Bodenheimer, has called for innovative solutions and non-pharmacological methodologies to help support potentially millions of people. The science is clear: for individuals suffering from trauma, anxiety, stress, or depression, exposure to nature and natural environments has therapeutic and healing effects. SPNI has therefore stepped up with a solution: Nature Heals.
