Hermon nature reserve ( he, שמורת חרמון) is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

in the north of the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

. It includes an area in southern

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of th ...

which is located in the Israeli occupied portion of the Golan Heights. The reserve excludes the

Mount Hermon ski resort The Mount Hermon ski resort ( he, אתר החרמון) is situated on the south-eastern slopes of Mount Hermon, a few kilometers off the Purple line, in the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights. The site is surrounded by the Hermon na ...

Neve Ativ Neve Ativ (), is an Israeli settlement in the Golan Heights, organized as a small Alpine-styled moshav. Located on the slopes of Mount Hermon, west of Majdal Shams. it falls under the jurisdiction of Golan Regional Council. In it had a popula ...

and the

Nimrod Fortress The Nimrod Fortress or Nimrod Castle ( ar, قلعة الصبيبة ''Qal'at al-Subeiba'', "Castle of the Large Cliff", later ''Qal'at Namrud'', "Nimrod's Castle"; he, מבצר נמרוד, ''Mivtzar Nimrod'', "Nimrod's Fortress") is a castle bu ...

National Park. The total area of the reserve is approximately 78,270 dunam (19,340 acres).שמורת החרמון
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Flora and fauna

The common birds in the reserve include

white-throated robin The white-throated robin (''Irania gutturalis''), or irania, is a small, sexually dimorphic, migratory passerine bird. The vernacular and genus name ''Irania'' alludes to Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and ...

western rock nuthatch The western rock nuthatch (''Sitta neumayer'') (sometimes known simply as rock nuthatch) is a small passerine bird which breeds from Croatia east through Greece and Turkey to Iran. This nuthatch is largely resident apart from some post-breed ...

sombre tit The sombre tit (''Poecile lugubris'') is a member of the tit family found in southeast Europe and southwest Asia. Sombre tits occur in low density in thin woodlands at the elevation range between 1000 and 1600 metres above sea level. Similar to ...

and

northern wheatear The northern wheatear or wheatear (''Oenanthe oenanthe'') is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It is th ...

. There are many species of butterflies, of which 23 are unique to the Hermon nature reserve and do not exist in pre-1967 Israel. The common reptiles in the reserve include the ''

Vipera bornmuelleri The Lebanon viper (''Montivipera bornmuelleri''), also known as Bornmueller's viper, Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. ...

'' and the

four-lined snake ''Elaphe quatuorlineata'' (common names: four-lined snake, Bulgarian ratsnake) is a member of the family Colubridae. The four-lined snake is a non- venomous species and one of the largest of the European snakes. Description The species' common ...

. Due to the height of the mountain the growth and the blooming begins at the top of the mountain in August, instead of the spring. In 1905 the botanist

Aaron Aaronsohn Aaron Aaronsohn ( he, אהרון אהרנסון) (21 May 1876 – 15 May 1919) was a Jewish agronomist, botanist, and Zionist activist, who was born in Romania and lived most of his life in the Land of Israel, then part of the Ottom ...

discovered what he called "the mother of wheat", ''

Triticum dicoccoides Emmer wheat or hulled wheat is a type of awned wheat. Emmer is a tetraploid (4''n'' = 4''x'' = 28 chromosomes). The domesticated types are ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccum'' and ''Triticum turgidum ''conv.'' durum''. The wild plant is ...

'', on the eastern slopes of Mount Hermon. In its time, this was a discovery of the greatest importance, as there were plans to hybridize "wild wheat" with other cultivars to produce a grain more easily grown in inhospitable locations. Eventually, this plan was abandoned; it didn't work.

References

Nature reserves in Israeli-occupied territories Mount Hermon {{Israel-geo-stub he:הר חרמון#שמורת חרמון