#pocket forests

[naonicblog2]

Why a decades-old forest planting practice from Japan is gaining traction in the U.S. — NPR

Communities across the U.S. are turning small plots of land into highly dense forests that grow quickly. Turns out these forests have roots

[rjzimmerman]

Coming Soon to Manhattan, a Brand-New Tiny Forest

Pocket-size forests filled with native plants have been embraced worldwide for their environmental benefits. Now one is planned for New York

Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:

A trend that’s gaining momentum around the world is set to finally arrive in Manhattan. It’s a tiny forest, to be planted on the southern end of Roosevelt Island, in the East River, this spring. According to its creators, it would be the first of its kind in the city and would consist of 1,000 native plants, trees and shrubs, covering just 2,700 square feet.

“We’re an island. We think about flooding, we think about storm surge, and the best treatment is to plant a tree,” said Christina Delfico, founder of iDig2Learn, a nonprofit group that works to reconnect people with nature and that is helping to lead the project. “The roots will stabilize the land. With good soil, there won’t be flooding. The concrete jungle needs pocket forests.”

Called the Manhattan Healing Forest, it will be planted using the Miyawaki method, which was created by the Japanese botanist and plant ecologist Akira Miyawaki, who received the Blue Planet Prize, a top environmental award, in 2006 for his work restoring forest ecosystems. First, the land is painstakingly prepared, usually with compost and mulch. Then, native trees and shrubs are planted close together, encouraging the flora to rapidly grow. According to proponents, Miyawaki-style forests become self-sufficient within three years and can achieve maturity within a few decades. Along the way, they provide habitat for insects and wildlife, absorb carbon and clean the air.

Mini-forests have been planted by the thousands across the world, in cities in Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, Russia and the Middle East. Many of the forests are barely the size of tennis courts, yet their creators report a range of benefits, including a cooling effect in warm weather, floodwater absorption, and even the return of birds that local residents thought had vanished.

In the United States, Miyawaki-style forests have been planted in recent years in Los Angeles, Washington State and Cambridge, Mass. One Cambridge mini-forest was planted in Danehy Park, atop an old landfill, and was growing at a rate that the city’s superintendent of urban forestry and landscapes described as “phenomenal.”

The Roosevelt Island mini-forest will be the 200th such forest planted by SUGi, a foundation that plans to cover the costs, which generally average about $200 per ten square feet. White oak, Virginia strawberry, butternut, New York fern and eastern white pine will be among the 40 species planted, according to Elise van Middelem, SUGi’s founder. The forest will be planted in Roosevelt Island’s Southpoint Park atop a large unused garden bed, according to Ms. Delfico.

[rjzimmerman]

Tiny Forests With Big Benefits

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

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

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.

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.

Perhaps more important for urban areas, tiny forests can help lower temperatures in places where pavement, buildings and concrete surfaces absorb and retain heat from the sun.