“We plant trees whose shade we will never sit under, for people we will never meet, in a future we can only imagine. This is the work of love."

A Covenant for 200 Years of Stewardship

This Charter establishes the foundational principles, values, and practices guiding Juthour in perpetuity. It serves as a binding covenant between current stewards and future generations, ensuring that the vision of Juthour—a living tree museum (arboretum), nature preserve, and ecological education centre—remains intact across centuries.

Juthour is a project to protect Palestinian ancestral land by regenerating a degraded mountain into this living tree museum and ecological education centre. The long‑term vision is to rezone the land as a nature preserve and secure a 100–200 year legacy for trees, wildlife, migrating birds, and native flora, while providing sustainable revenue and a home for its custodians.

Charter in brief

• What Juthour is: A 5‑part, 200‑year stewardship vision rooted in Palestinian land and culture, integrating a living tree museum (arboretum), nature preserve, ecological education, regenerative revenue, and a family home.
• Arboretum: A Palestinian living tree museum of woody plants, centred on indigenous Palestinian and Mediterranean species and regenerative land care.
• Municipal partnership within Juthour: A protected nature preserve with Juthour’s ecological education centre as the public‑facing learning space, co‑created with Ramallah Municipality as a model of government–community stewardship.
• Time horizon (200‑year covenant): A long‑view commitment that every decision considers many generations of human and more‑than‑human life connected to this land, protecting trees, wildlife, water, soil, and story.
• Juthour Arboretum is dedicated as a 200‑year covenant of stewardship, holding a 100–200 year view in all decisions.
• Core, non‑negotiable values (Article I): Legacy, Harmony with Nature, Regeneration, Education, Synergy, and Love. These values cannot be amended; all decisions must align with all six.
• Governance & custodianship (Article II): Long‑term custodianship held through a Counsel structure and Advisory Board (and future trust‑like or counsel‑based entities), with strict non‑sale, non‑encumbrance rules so the land cannot be treated as collateral or developed against the Charter.
• Land use & zoning (Article III): The land is zoned into Arboretum, Nature Preserve, Educational/Public, and Residential zones, each with clear permitted and prohibited uses that prioritize ecosystem health and minimal‑impact, green building.
• Money, mission, and endowment (Article IV): Revenue from accommodation, restaurant, retreats, education, and allied streams exists only to serve the mission. Profit may never override ecological or ethical commitments; surpluses build a long‑term endowment for the arboretum and preserve.
• Who this Charter is for: Current and future stewards, Counsel members, Advisory Board, family custodians, municipal and institutional partners, and community members who share responsibility for protecting, operating, and evolving Juthour in alignment with this Charter.

Article I: Core Values & Guiding Principles