Micro Forests: major impacts in minor spaces

Middle Stewart Canyon

What is a micro forest?

The rising need for biodiversity, carbon sequestration and improved soil health is ever increasing during these changing climate times. Though there are countless ways to improve our planet’s ecosystem, why not start in your own backyard? Akira Miyawaki (1928 - 2021) developed a new way of maximizing biodiversity in small spaces; consequentially, creating micro forests. A micro forest is an area of dense, multilayer indigenous forest planted in urban spaces aimed to reconnect fragmented habitat and restore biodiversity using the Miyawaki Method. Using randomization, this method plants small saplings in very close proximity where no two trees of the same height are planted side by side. This ensures vegetation do not directly compete with each other and grow to their ideal size while maximizing the use of the space. The forest requires 4 different levels of vegetation height to be planted in at least a 10 foot by 10 foot area.

Image from www.lamicroforests.com

Benefits

Unlike drought resistant lawn which are great at saving water, benefits of a micro forest can solve many more issues than just our drought. Compared to conventional tree planting, micro forest grow at a faster rate and improve carbon sequestration. The thick forest also creates a suitable habitat for insects, birds and other animals promoting wildlife connectivity among urban spaces. After a couple of years watering and weeding, the micro forest will become self regulating, depending on natural rainfall and resisting weed invasion. Self regulating forest naturally collects leaf litter and feeds soils microorganisms thus supporting the natural life cycle of the forest.

Plant your own!

Native plant horticulturist Katherine Pakradouni planted LA’s first microforest in Griffith Park. Katherine was inspired by the Miyawaki method and altered it to benefit southern California’s chaparral landscape. She has created a guide on planning, installing, and maintaining a micro forest for anyone to use!

Learn more:

https://www.lamicroforests.com/create-your-forest/before-you-plant