<P> Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (Hebrew: החברה להגנת הטבע ‎ ‎, HaHevra LeHaganat HaTeva), or SPNI, is an Israeli non-profit environmental organization working to preserve plants, animals, and natural environments that represent bio-diversity, by protecting the lands and waters needed for their survival, and is Israel's oldest and largest conservation organization . </P> <P> SPNI was founded in 1953 by Azaria Alon and Amotz Zahavi in response to plans to drain the Hula Valley . The Israeli government and the JNF ultimately did drain a majority of the Hula wetlands to prevent the spread of malaria and to create agricultural land . After 40 years of SPNI campaigning, some 10% of the Hula wetlands were re-flooded in the early 1990s . </P>

The society for the protection of nature in israel