Countries in Europe are tackling climate change and ongoing biodiversity issues in the most brilliant way – with small, mini forests popping up around towns and cities – and some are as small as the size of a tennis court. Inspired by Japan's most famous botanist Dr Akira Miyawaki, the miniature woods are as productive and biodiverse as any found naturally, but at 200 square metres, are designed to fit into small, urban areas like schoolyards or roadsides.
© BoomForestVolunteers planting a tiny forest outside of Paris
Volunteers are encouraged to plant densely-packed clusters of plants that are indigenous to the area to create its own mini ecosystem, helping with air quality, carbon storage, noise pollution and a home for local wildlife. The UK's first Tiny Forest was planted earlier this year in Witney, Oxfordshire, with 600 native trees that backers say mimics native woodland. France, Belgium and The Netherlands have all planted tiny forests too, including 100 in The Netherlands and a 22-species rich forest in Toulouse, France.
The small forests are based on the work of Japanese botanist Dr Akira Miyawaki, who pioneered the Miyawaki Method, a technique of restoring indigenous forests in any spaces or land in a short space of time.
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