Little Forests Durham

Little Forests – also know as mini-forests, tiny forests, pocket forests or Miyawaki forests – are dense, fast-growing, biodiverse pockets of native trees and shrubs planted following a strategy developed by the late Japanese botanist Dr. Akira Miyawaki.

Designed for urban environments Little Forests are typically only 200m², about the size of a tennis court, and include a mix of tall canopy trees, smaller trees, shade tolerant sub-canopy trees, and shrubs and ground covers. They are small enough to be planted almost anywhere land is available – parks, schools, community spaces and neighbourhoods.

Little Forests emphasize the use of dense plantings (3 to 6 plants per square meter), diverse locally native plant species, soil restoration and preparation, and a multilayered design to mimic the features of a native forest which over time, will create a wildlife-rich woodland.

“The planting should centre on the primary trees of the location, and following the laws of the natural forest,”

1. – Akira Miyawaki

The Little Forest planting movement started with Dr. Miyawaki in the 1970s. Miyawaki developed, tested and refined a reforestation method of planting young native tree species close together to quickly restore native forests on degraded soil. In 2006 Miyawaki was awarded the Blue Planet award for his “Miyawaki method” of forest planting.

The movement continued in India with Shubhendu Sharma after he attended a lecture by Dr. Miyawaki in 2008. Sharma studied under Miyawaki and in 2010 created the first Little Forest in India. In 2014, Sharma was featured in a TED talk which gave the Little Forest movement major international attention.

While the Miyawaki method for creating Little Forests is an emerging technique for Canada, it has been successful in Japan and other parts of the world (UK, Europe, India and other locations) for over 40 years (Miyawaki, 1999).

Little Forests Durham was started in April 2024 to help promote this movement and plant Little Forests in Durham Region, Ontario, Canada.

Little Forests can have a big impact despite their small size.

When planted using the Miyawaki method Little Forests are more dense, can grow faster, can sustain much more biodiversity and can achieve more CO² absorption than conventional reforestation plantings. This is achieved by speeding up the natural forest succession timeframe from around 100 to 200 years down to just 20 to 30 years.

The dense planting method encourages Little Forests to grow upward instead of outward, resulting in taller plants in a shorter time. Little Forests can contribute to climate resilience by improving air quality (Nowak, Hirabayashi, Doyle, McGovern, & Pasher, 2018), mitigating surface stormwater runoff (Berland, et al., 2017), countering heat island effect (Edmondson, Stott, Davies, Gaston, & Leake, 2016), providing habitat, and reducing noise pollution (Maleki & Hosseini, 2011) in urban and ecologically degraded settings.

Little Forest sites can also provide greater access to urban greenspace and empower volunteers to care for and transform their communities. In their early stages, Little Forests need to be weeded, watered and protected from herbivory to ensure healthy growth. Due to their fast-growing nature, Little Forests can become self-sustaining in two to three years. The caretaking responsibilities helps to build connections with the Little Forests themselves and helps to foster connections within the community.

Little Forests Durham is a group of local volunteers who are committed to improving biodiversity in our communities. We work with partners – including businesses, local authorities, schools and communities – to promote, plan, plant and care for Little Forests across Durham Region, Ontario, Canada.

Little Forests Durham does its work on the on lands that the Michi Saagiig Anishinaabeg inhabited for thousands of years prior to European colonization. These lands are the traditional and treaty territories of the Nations covered under the Williams Treaties, including the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, Alderville First Nation, Hiawatha First Nation, Curve Lake First Nation, and the Chippewa Nations of Georgina Island, Beausoleil and Rama.

We honour, recognize, and respect Indigenous Peoples as rights holders and stewards of the lands and waters on which we have the privilege to live. In our efforts towards reconciliation, we continue to build and strengthen relationships with First Nations and we are fortunate that their cultures are rooted in resilience and generosity, alive and thriving today to provide us with a model of harmony and balance with and in Nature.

In our efforts towards reconciliation we strive to create a collaboration between First Nations, settlers, plants and the land to create a better humanity for all.

If you are interested in volunteering at one of our Little Forest sites, please email us here.

The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago. The second-best time is now.