For healthier happier cities
A simple and effective way to plant sustainable, fast growing urban woodland in degraded soil
A Micro Forest is an innovative and effective method of tree planting to increase carbon mitigation in urban areas, delivering exceptional air quality and biodiversity benefits.
Our micro forests act as an oasis for biodiversity, heal the environment in many direct ways and help connect the local community back to nature.
They are grown using the basic principles of the Miyawaki method of afforestation that prioritizes the natural development of forests using native species.
The Miyawaki Method was developed in the 1970s by Akira Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist and specialist in the restoration of natural vegetation on degraded land... 'the Urban Micro Forest'. The abiding principle of the Miyawaki method is using species of trees that would occur naturally in that area and that can work together to create a diverse multi-layered forest community.
This method of afforestation allows trees to be densely planted at between 3-4 per m2, and, with the correct ground preparation, grow up to 8 times faster per annum than a conventionally grown tree, with a 90% success rate. The larger the area the more the benefits, but even a tennis court size of forest can work its magic!
A four-year-old Miyawaki forest of 200m2 + will provide an initial home for over 500 species of insect and animal.
Each species of native tree can eventually provide a haven for around 80 species of insect unique to that tree.
As our micro forests contain a mix of up to 20 tree species, an eventual long-term home for over 1,600 species of insect is created by a 10 year old 200m2 forest (this figure does not include the general insect species common to most trees and other organisms).
Soil biodiversity is enriched as part of the forest creation process.
At four years of growth 1m2 of Miyawaki forest can sequester 3 kilos of Co2 per annum.
This is due to the dense canopy of native tree heights that is around 30 times more dense than conventional tree planting schemes.
Each species of tree added to a forest will increase the carbon capture potential by 6%. This is due to the greater canopy cover and increased pollination aspects.
The fertile forest soil we create as part of the process can maximise this carbon sequestration potential
We can calculate carbon capture by using software programs such as I-Trees
The forests are also able to emit 2.2 kilos of pure oxygen per m2 per annum.
A Miyawaki forest will reduce particulate concentrations by up to 10% locally as well as absorb NOx.
We can calculate pollution capture by using software programs such as I-Trees.
During storm conditions, just 1m2 of micro forest is able to process up to 150 litres (1.5m3) of water run-off. This is partly due to the fertile forest floor that acts as a sponge.
Due to the dense nature of the planting, localised noise reduction can be reduced by up to 30 times.
Noise and traffic ‘breaks’ can be created with forest growth.
"Many thanks for the presentation Niall, inspirational and informative in equal measure! Living walls are a really exciting and progressive architectural development, I hope that they will become more widely used in the future."
"We use Scotscape across all of our developments to do our planting and maintenance at our sales & marketing suites as well as our show home garden designs. Scotscape are creative in their design and knowledgeable. They are a great team to work with, always deliver on time and to a high standard."
"We found them to be very professional throughout, from initial engagement up to completion. The nature of our project & our Client’s requirements necessitates the need for our supply chain partners to be reactive & flexible throughout and Darren & the whole team, were nothing but!"
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