Jordan here!
I recently came across the amazing concept of tiny forests and wanted to share my research with our Wild City blog readers. This project is sweeping across the world, enjoying mass success in congested city spaces, and will hopefully continue to pop up around the UK over the next few years.
(Image source: Afforest)
What is a tiny forest? Well, I'm sure you can take a wild guess... it's a diverse habitat with hundreds of tree's and wildlife of all sizes, all contained in the space of a tennis court or smaller.
Urban green spaces are typically hard to find, but luckily here in Portsmouth we have a number of parks, the common, patches of woodland and public gardens. As a family, we love getting out and exploring nature in the city for afternoon or early morning walks. But when talking about nature and biodiversity we need to look at the quality of our green spaces and how they offer a safe space for diverse natural habitats and wildlife to thrive!
(Image Source: earthwatch.org.uk)
Projects are springing up across the world with the aim to encourage small land owners to convert disused areas in the fight against climate change.
Benefits according to earthwatch scientific research include;
Grow up to 5x faster compared to traditional monoculture tree-planting schemes
Absorb up to 30x more carbon compared to traditional planting schemes
Attract more than 500 species of animals and plants - in addition to those planted
Process 30,000 litres of rainfall
Improve air quality through dust reduction
Provide up to 30x better noise reduction compared to traditional planting schemes
Help with thermal comfort
(earthwatch 2020)
This message resonates with Beth and I, and we're particularly excited about tiny forests being used not only as excellent carbon capture areas but also as an education tool for all generations. They serve as living community projects designed to educate humanity on the importance of living with, and encouraging the growth of nature and wildlife within urban communities.
(Image Source: ideas.ted.com)
I have reached out and contacted Earthwatch to see what can be done here in our city of Portsmouth - so if you are a small land owner and want to make a difference, contact us and perhaps together we can educate our community and transform a space that could help the fight against climate change together.
Portsmouth City Council have recently started an initiative planting tiny forests in different areas of the city. You can find two already underway on Lake Road and Fratton Road, which is an excellent start! This will help with carbon capture and improve our inner city air quality. Projects like these require everyone's input if you want to find out more contact [email protected]
I have linked a couple of websites below, but I really encourage you to research further as there is so much information to learn.
Businesses like Earthwatch rely on landowners and volunteers to make a difference. Big change can start small. Thanks for reading, I would love to hear your thoughts so get in touch!
Jordan
Research Links: