Miyawaki: A little forest with a towering task
A Japanese method of planting fast-growing native forests is spreading worldwide. How it brings 鈥済rounded hope鈥� to one of its U.S. practitioners, and nurtures a sense of community around its sites.
Cambridge, Mass.
The tiny forest packs 900 saplings into 1,400 square feet. It鈥檚 expected to shoot up like its sister forest planted nearby a year earlier, and become self-sufficient a few years after planting. Its 50 native plant species not only sequester carbon and cool the air, but also support insects, a crucial part of the local ecosystem,聽says Amy Mertl, an entomologist at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The forest, planted by the city government, environmentalists, and residents,聽is a聽. First introduced in Japan, the dense, multilayered plantation of native plants aims to fully re-create growth that existed before deforestation.聽
鈥淭he overarching goal is to help nature regenerate more quickly than it would without our help,鈥� says professional forest-planter Ethan Bryson, a consultant for Cambridge鈥檚 Miyawaki forest project. Hundreds of Miyawaki forests have been planted worldwide in recent years, according to Hannah Lewis, author of 聽about them.
The two Miyawaki forests in Cambridge are the first in the northeastern United States, says Maya Dutta, who managed both planting projects.聽A software developer-turned-environmental activist, Ms. Dutta is the assistant director of regenerative projects at Biodiversity for a Livable Climate, a group that teaches people about ecological restoration.聽She used to fear 鈥� and avoid 鈥� environmental issues, she says, but her current work has given her 鈥済rounded hope.鈥澛�
鈥淎s you do restoration on a landscape, you can start to see [beneficial] effects take place in a matter of years,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here are actual pathways to a future in which I can live and have a good life.鈥�
Note: Jing joined the Monitor鈥檚 鈥淲hy We Wrote This鈥� podcast to talk about the creation of this video, and about his other work.聽