What are tiny forests? Thanks for asking!

Over the last few years, citizens have been planting tiny forests in towns and country settings. There are now over 2,000 across the world, all inspired by the Miyawaki method and designed to help prevent the collapse of biodiversity. 

Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki was born in 1928. While studying seeds and natural forests, he observed that the vast majority of Japanese forests were made by humans. Trees had been planted according to the quality of their wood, in order to build buildings or houses. The problem was that these trees weren’t the most resistant or efficient against global warming.

Don’t we already have a lot of forests in Europe? 

You’re right in so far as forests cover 182 million hectares or 43% of the total land area in the continent. The figure for the UK is comparatively low, at just 3.21 million hectares and 13% of land area.

The thing is most of this land is accounted for by monoculture forests, which are only home to one type of tree. As explained by non-profit organisation Project Drawdown, many were created “with purely economic motives and little regard for the long-term well-being of the land, environment, or surrounding communities.” 

The resulting lack of plant biodiversity in turn has a negative impact on animal biodiversity, and can cause diseases to spread more easily. 

Let’s get back to Miyawaki. Tell me more about how his method works. What is the environmental benefit of all this? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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