The Miyawaki system of forest development is the brainchild (brainchild: original idea) of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. The idea is to plant native trees very close to each other, with minimal space between them.
Within a short time, the trees grow into a lovely, dense forest.
This technique leads to fast growth in plants and the coverage becomes dense in very little time because there is so little space between the plants.
Over a short period of time, the area develops into an independent ecosystem. The technique was first presented to the world in the 1980s. Since then, it has found many followers and fans.
The picture above has three frames. The first frame shows the area around Kotturpuram station in Chennai.
The picture is about 8 months old. As you can see, the area was full of rotting garbage and construction debris.
The civic body cleared the area and planted over 2000 trees of 40 native species.
You may not believe it, but the second and third frames are of the same location. The last frame shows us how this area looks today.
After the initial success at Kotturpuram, the second Miyawaki forest has been planted at Valasaravakkam. The planting of the third forest has already started at Mugalivakkam.
Who else has used this technique?
In India, the technique has been adopted by states and NGOs. In Chennai, the third forest at Mugalivakkam is being planted in collaboration with Thuvakkam, an NGO that has been trying to create Miyawaki forests in Chennai.
Telangana government also used this technique in 2019 for urban
reforestation.
Shubhendu Sharma, who first experimented with this technique in 2010 in his backyard in Uttarakhand, now runs a company that has planted mini-forests in 44 cities in 10 countries.