Project Wadi Attir, a unique sustainable agriculture initiative fusing traditional Bedouin practices with modern renewable energy and farming techniques, inaugurated its agricultural facilities on Jan. 27th, 2015. Completion of these facilities allows for large scale herding and represents a major milestone for the project.
Project Wadi Attir is an eco-village designed to model for sustainable development for the Negev and other arid regions around the world. When fully operational, it will include a sheep and goat dairy and develop medicinal plants and indigenous produce. The village will also include composting facilities, solar and energy recycling facilities and serve as an educational, training and administrative center. (See video below)
The $10 million project was initiated in 2008 by Hura mayor Dr. Muhammad Al-Nabari and Dr. Michael Ben-Eli, founder of the Sustainability Laboratories. Joined by researchers from BGU’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, development of the project has been made possible by support from the Arnow Family Fund, The Israeli Government, the Jewish National Fund and numerous donors.
The ceremony. marking a major expansion in village operations, was attended by representatives of all the major partners in this project including the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Mayor of Hura, the Sustainability Labs, Ben Gurion University, the Ministry of Development of the Negev and the Galilee, and the Jewish National Fund.
Following the music performances by the Bedouin school students, Dr. Muhammad Al-Nabari presented Dr. Michael Ben Eli and supporter Itzik Zivan with honorary citizenship of the City of Hura.
View a video describing the project and its goals, here:
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