Tiny Forests With Big Benefits

Native Plants in Tiny Forests Deliver Environmental Benefits

Introduction

Native plants crowded onto postage-stamp-size plots have been delivering environmental benefits around the world — and, increasingly, in the U.S.

Tiny Forests: A Growing Movement

The tiny forest lives atop an old landfill in the city of Cambridge, Mass. Though it is still a baby, it’s already acting quite a bit older than its actual age, which is just shy of 2.

Its aspens are growing at twice the speed normally expected, with fragrant sumac and tulip trees racing to catch up. It has absorbed storm water without washing out, suppressed many weeds and stayed lush throughout last year’s drought. The little forest managed all this because of its enriched soil and density, and despite its diminutive size: 1,400 native shrubs and saplings, thriving in an area roughly the size of a basketball court.

It is part of a sweeping movement that is transforming dusty highway shoulders, parking lots, schoolyards and junkyards worldwide. Tiny forests have been planted across Europe, in Africa, throughout Asia and in South America, Russia and the Middle East. India has hundreds, and Japan, where it all began, has thousands.

Now tiny forests are slowly but steadily appearing in the United States. In recent years, they’ve been planted alongside a corrections facility on the Yakama reservation in Washington, in Los Angeles’s Griffith Park and in Cambridge, where the forest is one of the first of its kind in the Northeast.

Environmental Benefits and the Sustainable Development Goals

“It’s just phenomenal,” said Andrew Putnam, superintendent of urban forestry and landscapes for the city of Cambridge, on a recent visit to the forest, which was planted in the fall of 2021 in Danehy Park, a green space built atop the former city landfill. As dragonflies and white butterflies floated about, Mr. Putnam noted that within a few years, many of the now 14-foot saplings would be as tall as telephone poles and the forest would be self-sufficient.

Healthy woodlands absorb carbon dioxide, clean the air and provide for wildlife. But these tiny forests promise even more.

They can grow as quickly as ten times the speed of conventional tree plantations, enabling them to support more birds, animals and insects, and to sequester more carbon, while requiring no weeding or watering after the first three years, their creators said.

The Miyawaki Method

Known variously as tiny forests, mini forests, pocket forests and, in the United Kingdom, “wee” forests, they trace their lineage to the Japanese botanist and plant ecologist Akira Miyawaki, who in 2006 won the Blue Planet Prize, considered the environmental equivalent of a Nobel award, for his method of creating fast-growing native forests.

Dr. Miyawaki, who died in 2021 at the age of 93, developed his technique in the 1970s, after observing that thickets of indigenous trees around Japan’s temples and shrines were healthier and more resilient than those in single-crop plantations or forests grown in the aftermath of logging. He wanted to protect old-growth forests and encourage the planting of native species, arguing that they provided vital resilience amid climate change, while also reconnecting people with nature.

Dr. Miyawaki’s prescription involves intense soil restoration and planting many native flora close together. Multiple layers are sown — from shrub to canopy — in a dense arrangement of about three to five plantings per square meter. The plants compete for resources as they race toward the sun, while underground bacteria and fungal communities thrive. Where a natural forest could take at least a century to mature, Miyawaki forests take just a few decades, proponents say.

Challenges and Criticisms

Crucially, the method requires that local residents do the planting, in order to forge connections with young woodlands. In Cambridge, where a second tiny forest, less than half the size of the first one, was planted in late 2022, Mr. Putnam said residents had embraced the small forest with fervor. A third forest is in the works, he said, and all three were planned and organized in conjunction with the non-profit Biodiversity for a Livable Climate.

Still, there are skeptics. Because a Miyawaki forest requires intense site and soil preparation, and exact sourcing of many native plants, it can be expensive. The Danehy Park forest cost $18,000 for the plants and soil amendments, Mr. Putnam said, while the pocket forest company, SUGi, covered the forest creators’ consulting fees of roughly $9,500. By way of comparison, a Cambridge street tree costs $1,800.

Doug Tallamy, an American entomologist and author of “Nature’s Best Hope,” said that while he applauded efforts to restore degraded habitat, particularly in urban areas, many of the plants would eventually get crowded out and die. Better to plant fewer and save more, he said.

Global Impact and Success Stories

Around the world, conservationists took notice. In the Netherlands, Daan Bleichrodt, an environmental educator, plants tiny forests to bring nature closer to urban dwellers, especially city children. In 2015, he spearheaded the country’s first Miyawaki forest, in a community north of Amsterdam, and has overseen the planting of nearly 200 forests since.

Four years later, Elise van Middelem started SUGi, which has planted more than 160 pocket forests worldwide. The company’s first forest was planted on a dumping ground alongside the Beirut River in Lebanon; others were sown later near a power plant in the country’s most polluted city, and in several playgrounds badly damaged by the 2020 blast at Beirut’s port.

And Earthwatch Europe, an environmental nonprofit, has planted more than 200 forests, most of them the size of a tennis court, throughout the United Kingdom and mainland Europe in the last three years.

Though many of the forests are still very young, their creators say there have already been outsize benefits. The woodlands in Lebanon have drawn lizards, geckos, birds and tons of insects and fungi. In Cameroon, there are improved groundwater conditions and higher water tables around the forest sites, along with the return of crabs, frogs, and birds that were thought to be extinct.

Conclusion

“A Miyawaki forest

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 13: Climate Action
• SDG 15: Life on Land
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

The article discusses the environmental benefits of tiny forests, which include carbon sequestration, air purification, and support for wildlife. These issues are directly connected to SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land). Additionally, the article mentions the use of tiny forests in urban areas to lower temperatures and provide habitat refuges, which aligns with SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning
• SDG 15.2: Promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests
• SDG 11.7: By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible, green and public spaces, particularly for women and children, older persons, and persons with disabilities

Based on the article’s content, the following targets can be identified:

– SDG 13.2: The use of tiny forests can be integrated into national policies and strategies as a climate change mitigation measure.

– SDG 15.2: The planting and management of tiny forests contribute to sustainable forest management practices.

– SDG 11.7: The establishment of tiny forests in urban areas provides accessible green spaces for communities.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

Yes, the article mentions several indicators that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets:

– Growth rate of native plants: The article highlights that tiny forests can grow at twice the speed of conventional tree plantations, indicating their potential for rapid carbon sequestration and habitat creation.

– Survival rates of planted forests: The article mentions survival rates of 85-90% in the first three years for Miyawaki forests, which can be used as an indicator of successful forest establishment.

– Biodiversity assessment: The presence of various species, such as insects, lizards, birds, and ground squirrels, in the planted forests indicates their ability to support diverse ecosystems.

– Temperature reduction: The article discusses how tiny forests can help lower temperatures in urban areas, which can be measured using temperature monitoring devices.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: nytimes.com

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