Ever thought that a small piece of land in your society could be transformed into a thick dense forest. And No, you don’t have to wait for decades to see the results. You could grow a fully self sustainable dense forest in 3-4 years.
Miyawaki urban forest is the answer to growing environmental problems such as pollution, lack of green cover etc in urban cities such as Mumbai. Such forests also help in lowering temperatures, attract local birds and insects and create carbon sinks.
Developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, the method involves planting several local trees as close as possible to each other in the same area. By this method the plants fight for sunlight resulting in the growth of these plants ten times faster and about thirty times denser than the usual.
15 to 30 different species of trees and shrubs of the local species are planted together. This plant community works very well together, and is perfectly adapted to local weather conditions.
The habitat thus created will get more complex over time and attract much biodiversity. It would take about 200 years to let a forest recover on its own. With the Miyawaki method a similar result is achieved in 20 years
There are several areas in Mumbai, including Chembur, where the Miyawaki forest method has been used to create green cover in a short period of time.
In 2021, the Rotary Club of Deonar, along with the Inner Wheel Club of Deonar identified an empty land space in Nutan Vidya Mandir School, Mankhurd for the Miyawaki Urban Forest Project. The land was prepared as per the requirements and about 900 saplings were planted.
Similar project was carried out by the Rotary Club of Deonar in Shahaji Nagar Tamil Municipal School No.1, Cheeta Camp, Trombay and at a Municipal School in Sanjay Nagar, Govandi. Today the three sites are self-sustainable.
Today, The trees have grown almost twenty feet high creating a mini forest within two years. Such forests may be our quick answers to rapidly decreasing natural forests but they do lack the properties of natural forests such as the ability to create rains and growing medicinal plants.
Lovely write-up covered by you Shivani.
Indeed, the Rotary Club of Deonar has done incredible work in the community to add the much-needed greenery and also create a bond in the mind of the young generation towards the environment!!