25-10 - Flipbook - Page 70
Hephzibah
Ministries
together, with species based on an established native woodland nearby. In
Scotland, for example, this might mean planting a canopy layer of tall oak
and Scots Pine, a sub-canopy of smaller trees like silver birch and rowan and a
scrub layer of broom and blackthorn all at once. The densely planted young
trees fight for sunlight and grow faster. The result, its proponents say, is a
mature, native forest in 10 years rather than 100.
Widespread in Japan, Miyawaki's restoration methods have spread across
the world, from the Amazon to India. It has its critics, though, with concerns
around their cost and fears they are being used to compensate for virgin forest
loss, despite not really being primary forest. Others argue they create an
undue emphasis on dense forest creation at the expense of other types of
ecosystems like open woodland or wildflower meadows, which may be just as
important ecologically.
Still, the method, which works particularly well on derelict land, has found a
natural home in urban areas, where fast-growing greenery can be a welcome
relief. And there is some evidence that Miyawaki plots are an especially
effective way of planting small forests. A 2023 report by the Tree Council, a UK
non-profit, found they
are better at surviving
droughts, have higher
biodiversity
and
are
lower cost than similar
small forests planted
using more conventional
methods.
A
recent
council project in Kent,
England,
concluded
that while the cost to
plant a plot using the
Miyawaki method was
higher than standard
tree planting methods, it
actually cost far less per surviving tree, since trees had much higher survival
rates.
A recent planting frenzy means the wider UK now has hundreds of young
tiny forests. The non-profit Earthwatch has planted almost 300 of them in the
past few years and aims for a further 200 by 2030. These are often financially
backed by companies whose staff plant the forest as a corporate day out.
In 2020, the Miyawaki method caught the attention of Rosanna
Cunningham, Scotland's environment minister, says Karen Morrison, the project
officer at government agency NatureScot who supports the rollout of wee
forests in Scotland. Cunningham decided to give tiny forests a go in Scotland.
Of course, there's been the odd hiccup, says Morrison. In one tiny forest in
Dundee, Scotland, a straw mulch layer (put down to seal in moisture and
repress weeds) was set alight. "I think it was a sort of big beacon, you know,
'come and set fire to me'," she says. "So, we're learning. We're learning along
the way." Fortunately, she adds, the fire flashed through the straw quickly and
the saplings actually survived.
Local benefits
