The department's goals are diverse, with the main research interests being in natural resources, forests and open spaces.

Description of activities:

Forestry - Agro-forestry research addresses the utilization of marginal agricultural resources for developing forests that are economically profitable or support economically profitable activity (honey bee cultivation), based on eucalyptus plantations. Landscape forestry studies cover the ecology and management of natural and planted forests in Mediterranean and semiarid environments; compatibility of afforestation candidate species with various Israeli habitats; forests' role in recycling different urban wastes; desert forestation: using local and foreign trees to fight desertification processes and to rehabilitate degraded habitats; genetics of forest tree species and the conservation of genetic diversity; enhancement of forest biodiversity; forest natural regeneration, and re-establishment following fire or harvest; fuel management and fire prevention; grazing in the forest; water harvesting and afforestation; biogeochemical cycles in the forest; effects of forests on neighboring habitats.

Range Management - Studies in this field cover: primary and secondary production processes in grazing systems; improvement and development of natural rangelands and cultivated pastures in Israel through rearing of beef cattle, sheep and goats; the impact of grazing on the soil and on the herbaceous and woody vegetation; monitoring grazing behavior and nutrition of domesticated and wild herbivores, including use of GPS and GIS; use of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) in environmental, agricultural and food research; the impact of grazing management on beef cattle production in various ecosystems; fertilization optimization; livestock production in an organic agricultural context.

Ecosystem Management - Studies in this field cover: the dynamics of Mediterranean woody vegetation; the use of grazing for managing natural systems; biodiversity in relation to grazing systems; scientific basis for conservation and management programs; exploitation of bio-geochemical cycles to improve soil productivity and restore degraded landscapes; soil stabilization in sandy and loess habitats; biogenic crusts; runoff harvesting.

Official Seed Testing Laboratory - This unit is the Official Seed Testing Laboratory of the State of Israel. It operates according to the Seed Law and is accredited in accordance with the ISO/IEC 17025-International Standard. The Laboratory coordinates the handling and publishing of "The List of Varieties Eligible for Sale in Israel". The Laboratory specializes in seed-quality tests and develops and applies new testing methods to ensure and improve seed quality. The main tests performed are: purity (including identification of cultivated, weed and noxious-weed seeds), germination and dormancy breaking, viability and vigor testing and health tests to identify seed-borne pathogenic fungi, bacteria and viruses.,

Department  member in Gilat  Research Center:

Eli Zaady, Ph.D.

Department  members in Newe Ya'ar Research Center:

• Zalmen Henkin, Ph.D (Retiree)
• Guy Dovrat, Ph.D.
• Shiri Freilich, Ph.D. 
• Asaf Sadeh, Ph.D.