We’re Starting a Campaign

Route 652 links Pardes Hanna-Karkur, Binyamina and Zikhron Ya’akov.
The locals (who probably came from the country’s noisy centre) have sentiments for this road, from the impressive fan palms (Washingtonia) near Pardes Hanna, to the beautiful mosaic of the agricultural landscapes on the way up to Zikhron Ya’akov, and Shuni Fort, an ancient building rich in cultural history.
But Sometimes Pastorality Clashes with Reality. On this road, particularly in the section defined by our Nature Park staff as a “roadkill hotspot”, dozens of wild animals are run over annually, including hedgehogs, badgers, jackals, wild boars and gazelles. Such encounters between cars and wild animals are dangerous for both the animals and the humans, and any crash can end in real tragedy.

So What Do We Do?

One morning the Ramat Hanadiv professional staff held a meeting and raised the question: what can we do to prevent wild animals getting run over in our area?

At Ramat Hanadiv, as always, the starting point is the data. Liat Hadar, Head of Research, and Amir Arnon, who is in charge of wildlife management and conservation, presented the staff with long-term information regarding roadkill in the region, focusing on the abovementioned section of the road. After an in-depth discussion it was decided that the action plan would be divided into two parts:

Solutions to influence animal behaviour
Solutions to influence human behaviour

To increase animal awareness of the road, special flickers will soon be installed along the road, in collaboration with Israel Nature and Parks Authority. By means of sound and light, the flickers warn the animals about impending danger, causing them to respond by avoiding bursting onto the road and returning to the natural areas instead.

With respect to humans it was clear that a more complex solution is required for the many residents who live in the region, as well as those who use the road randomly, are often unaware of the animals present nearby. They’ve never encountered a jackal or porcupine in their own neighbourhood; to see a gazelle near their home sounds like a fantasy or fairy tale. But the truth is that within the grounds of Ramat Hanadiv there are many wild animals that find safe refuge in the Nature Park.

On route 652 that links Pardes Hanna-Karkur, Binyamina and Zikhron Ya’akov, dozens of wild animals are run over annually, including hedgehogs, badgers, jackals, wild boars and gazelles

A scene from the campaign

Pay Attention and Drive Slowly

The two messages chosen for the campaign are: 1) Pay attention – to the wild animals around you – know that right next to your homes there is a diversity of wild animals, and 2) Drive slowly – an active, specific call to action.

But How Do We Produce an Active Campaign?

In a brainstorming session, we brought examples of campaigns that we remembered as being particularly effective – those that change habits or give practical tools for change. These included two examples that were felt to be very inspirational: in the 1990s there was a campaign that reached every home and car in Israel.

The campaign taught us how to keep a distance between cars. We need to mark a point that the car in front has reached and count “twenty one…twenty two” until our car reaches that same point; this counting marks the exact time that needs to be between cars. It seems that there is no-one who has not heard or did not use this effective tool.

Many residents who live in the region, as well as those who use the road randomly, are often unaware of the animals present nearby.

Behind the scenes: The Park rangers during the filming of the clip

The second advertisement that we remembered during that same meeting was the one that tried to change habits in the back seat of the car: “Buckle up now!”. Through this cute slogan that encourages children, parents got their children used to the fact that no-one goes anywhere until everyone buckles up, in the front and in the back.

Many insights arose following this source of inspiration, including that fact that children are great ambassadors for changing habitats, and changing habitats can also be fun and games.

Off we go!

Badger, Jackal, Gazelle and Porcupine

Four wild animals were “recruited” to the campaign. The choice of these, rather than other animals in the region (hedgehogs, frogs, wild boar etc.), stemmed from a desire to reflect the diversity present in the Nature Park and put the spotlight on animals that not everyone recognizes or would think to discover living near houses, cities or agricultural settlements.

We wanted our campaign to have rhythm and we wanted it to be catchy, so as to convey the message easily, and so that hearing it would foster a love of animals and an understanding that they are right here nearby and that there are things we can do to protect them

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Ramat Hanadiv's maintenance team installs the signs on the sides of road 652

The Characters

To connect to, love and think about the animals, it was clear to us that we should illustrate, stylize and simplify them. For this project we cast a wonderful illustrator, Racheli Shalev; besides her approach and illustrating abilities, she is also a resident of the region (Pardes Hanna) and it was clear that the emotional connection would be immediate.

The “Beat”

We wanted our campaign to have rhythm and we wanted it to be catchy, so as to convey the message easily, and so that hearing it would foster a love of animals and an understanding that they are right here nearby and that there are things we can do to protect them. We wanted to produce the kind of campaign that stays with you even after it ends.

We approached Piloni, aka Dani Kark, a music producer and composer (and also the beloved guitarist of “Shabak Samech”), but above all else, a resident of Zikhron Ya’akov. Piloni connected to the message and produced a particularly addictive beat.

The Clip

To produce the clip we chose the director, Miki Steiner, resident of Binyamina and a local cultural entrepreneur, and diverse, charming families from the region of course, who connected to the message, got into their cars, and starting reciting.

Right now we are launching the clip with great excitement, hoping and believing that it will help drivers to drive more carefully and to know that they should pay attention near their homes because they may find a badger, jackal, gazelle or porcupine.

You’re welcome to watch the clip and sing along with us.