C ontents
Foreword by Paul Hawken
xi
Introduction: Restoration in Roscoff
1
1: The Miyawaki Method 2: On the Trail of Ancient Forests 3: Woods and Water 4: Urban Oases 5: Campuses, Coastlines, and Foothills 6: Healing Forests 7: Earth’s Living Tissue 8: Mini-Forest Field Guide
7 21 35 49 67 89 107 129
Conclusion: Eco-Restoration Starts at Home 151 Acknowledgments Resources Notes Index
MiniForest_finalpages.indd 9
165 167 171 187
4/20/22 12:31 PM
Mini-Forest Revolution
Dr. Akira Miyawaki holds up a seedling during Arvin Sango’s first planting day in Madison, Indiana. Courtesy of Mark Gish.
Shubhendu Sharma on site at Beirut’s RiverLESS Forest. Courtesy of theOtherDada.
Miyawaki’s Yokohama National University forest was at least forty years old when this picture was taken in 2019. Courtesy of Kazue Fujiwara.
4
MiniForest_colorinsert_finalpages.indd 4
4/20/22 9:37 AM
Mini-Forest Revolution
Cedar trees line the long walkway to the Rinnoji Temple in Sendai, Japan, prior to their removal in 2005 due to the construction of a highway underpass. Courtesy of Doryu Hioki.
Doryu Hioki of the Rinnoji Temple decided to replant using the Miyawaki Method. Here, young saplings line the walkway. Courtesy of Doryu Hioki.
In clear contrast to the cedars, this fourteen-year-old Miyawaki mini-forest forms a multilayered band of vegetation along the walkway. Courtesy of Doryu Hioki.
5
MiniForest_colorinsert_finalpages.indd 5
4/20/22 9:37 AM
Mini-Forest Revolution
Volunteers prepare to plant the second section of Beirut’s RiverLESS Forest in November 2019. The first section, along the edges, was planted in May 2019. Courtesy of theOtherDada.
A very tiny forest planted in the courtyard of a Beirut school damaged by the 2020 nitrate explosion at the Port of Beirut. Courtesy of theOtherDada.
The Beirut Power Plant Forest grows in a traffic median—a previously overlooked scrap of land. Courtesy of theOtherDada.
7
MiniForest_colorinsert_finalpages.indd 7
4/20/22 9:37 AM
Mini-Forest Revolution Natural Vegetation Succession
0–5 years Annual plants
0–15 years Perennial 10–40 years herbs Shrubs 20–100 years (grasses Shadeand forbs) intolerant pioneer trees
100–200+ years Climax forest
Miyawaki Mini-Forest Method
0 years Densely planted local climax species seedlings
3 years Stand of saplings shades out weeds and becomes self-sufficient
15–40+ years Multilayered, quasi-natural climax forest
The Miyawaki Method (bottom) speeds up the process of natural ecological succession (top) through the planting of climax species. Illustration by Elara Tanguy.
8
MiniForest_colorinsert_finalpages.indd 8
4/20/22 9:37 AM