Small Forests, Big Impacts

If you care about earth’s climate, the headlines these days are discouraging. Keeping earth’s temperature under the magic 1.5 degrees C rise is looking increasingly elusive. An AGU (American Geophysical Union) paper published in March of 2026 concluded that the earth has warmed faster over the last 10+ years than during any previous decade (agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com). The authors’ conclusion: “if the warming rate of the past 10 years continues, the Paris Agreement 1.5 C warming limit will be breached by (about) 2030”.

Looking at the current state of global geopolitical events, hope for a solution seems small, despite knowing what the solution is: stop burning fossil fuels. But, even if we stopped burning fossil fuels by 2030, we still would have climate altering levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. 

Finding ways to mitigate the effects of climate change—from extreme weather events, to droughts, to species extinctions—is vital to our future. So, what does this all have to do with forests? Forests help mitigate the effects of climate change by sequestering carbon, creating healthy micro-climates, building habitat for insects, birds and animals, and providing buffers against extreme heat and drought, flooding, and air pollution, not to mention improving our overall mental health. 

What’s the difference between planting some bushes, or flowers, or isolated trees versus “planting” a forest? The difference is in the ecosystem that is developed in a forest. It is the interactions that occur within the forest, and in the soil of the forest, that enhance the ability of the ecosystem to retain rainwater, sequester large amounts of carbon and regulate climate.  

Unfortunately, you cannot simply “grow” a forest overnight. Left to itself, a vacant field would take centuries to grow into a mature forest ecosystem capable of providing meaningful climate mitigating benefits. In 2006, Japanese botanist, Akira Miyawaki, wrote: “It is vegetation, especially forests with multiple, complex layers of various trees, that controls a wide range of environmental processes and conditions.” (Akira Miyawaki and Elgene Owen Box, The Healing Power of Forests: The Philosophy behind Restoring Earth’s Balance with Native Trees (Tokyo: Kosei Publishing, 2007)).

In the 1970s, Miyawaki was concerned about the worldwide decline of natural forests. He subsequently developed a method of growing new forests—dubbed Miyawaki, or pocket, forests—in areas of deforestation, or poor and degraded soil. He began by enriching the ground with mulch and organic matter. Using only indigenous trees and shrubs, the prepared area is planted with a host of diverse saplings and young shrubs. The densely planted area, which can be as small as 10 x 10 feet, is watered and weeded for the first couple of years, but, after that, it grows exponentially and requires little to no maintenance.

The super-enriched, prepared soil, combined with the root systems of a diverse variety of native plants, quickly becomes a web of interconnected mycelium—a fungus whose thready strands form a dense network beneath the soil which helps to transport water and nutrients to and fro, benefitting the many trees and shrubs. The dense growth quickly becomes a habitat haven. The deeply penetrating roots of the plants, combined with their rapid growth, helps to sequester carbon—an essential ingredient for soil health—and retain water. Once established, the forest needs no watering, feeding, or human intervention. A makeshift fence to keep out the deer while the plants get established is probably a good idea.

Miyawaki Forests are not a panacea for climate change, but they are one more step in the right direction. Plants—in the ocean and on land—provide the oxygen needed for life to survive on Earth. Preserving what already exists should be a top priority. Replacing what we’ve lost is also essential, and Miyawaki Forests are one way to do this—especially in urban areas with derelict lots. They have the added advantage of being small and accessible, as well as great community building projects.

To learn more, check out a recent NPR article at: https://tinyurl.com/mt7knxbc