Eco Tours in Israel

Bio Tour Eco Tours in Israel

Sde-Eliyahu is a religious Kibbutz. It was founded in 1939 as one of the Homa U’Migdal (Tower and Stockade) settlements.
Sde Eliyahu is situated in the Beit Shean Valley, between the Gilboa and the Gilaad ridges and surrounded by countless natural springs. Its 120 families base the social, cultural and economical aspects of their lives on ideals of cooperation and sharing, of Torah and hard work.
Most of the Kibbutz’ earnings come from agriculture, mainly – organic.
The idea of biological-organic agriculture was first thought of in the early 1970’s, by Mario Levy, who views it as a way of life.
As more and more people in Sdei Eliyahu supported the idea and as the work itself progressed, Kibbutz Sdei-Eliyahu immerged as a pioneer in the field positioning itself at the cutting edge of research in this branch agriculture

Eco-Tour in Sde Eliyahu

For years now, the religious kibbutz Sde Eliyahu has been a site of pilgrimage for overseas tourists and Israelis.
People come to see Mario Levi’s organic vegetable garden, and to meet with the man himself; to see Yakov Nakash’s wonderful world of insects – which developed into the large facility for biological pest control – Bio-Bee, which in turn, has several divisions – Integrated Pest Control Management (IPM) with it’s beneficial insects, the bumblebee division, with bees for pollination, and it’s daughter company, Bio-Fly, which provides a non-chemical solution for the Mediterranean fruit fly. There are those who come to see SDA – the largest herb drying plant in the Middle East; and there are those who heard about our organic compost, which is an important part of organic farming. Our organic vineyards, date palms and pomegranate orchards are also a source of interest. Many people have also heard about Shaul Aviel’s barn owl project, and want to see it in person.

Tour Guides

The many requests to visit have increased constantly over the years, which have caused added pressure to the workers in the various factories, and finally the Kibbutz came to realize that it was worth institutionalizing the phenomena, and to set up a tourism industry which would handle all the requests and visitors.
For this purpose, guides from the kibbutz – both young and old, have been professionally trained. Today the guide staff consists of 10, who professionally escort our visitors. At the same time, our tourism industry has grown and offers a variety of sites to visit on the kibbutz.
In addition, special children’s programs (whether for pre-school or school-age) have been designed and incorporated into visits on the kibbutz for groups and for families with children. Our children’s programs include various topics such as: recycling, environmental issues, animals, biological pest control, etc., and are accompanied by suitable activities and learning aids.

Group Tours

The type of groups who come to Sde Eliyahu are greatly varied: pensioners who often tour; students of biology/agriculture/ecology; families who want to celebrate a special occasion in a special way; high school and middle school pupils; overseas courses; and many people who are interested in anything organic.
Each group, together with the Bio-Tour staff, prepares its own unique itinerary – based on their interests, their requirements, and the time and budget at their disposal.

Some tours have a purely professional aspect; some are based on the history of: the Beit Shean Valley/ the kibbutz/ the Templars; some want to see the hidden corners of the kibbutz; some tours focus on the theme of “kibbutz”, the religious kibbutz, and the combination of religion and agriculture. All tour itineraries are flexible, and as stated, are guided tours for families and groups of all sizes, based on advance bookings.
In addition to tours, we offer our guests kosher meals in the kibbutz dining room, and sell a range of organic products grown on the kibbutz.