INNOVATION
‘Pocket forests’
With space in the West End at a premium, the idea of a heritage forest, with a dense range of trees and shrubs, is an interesting concept – and one that goes beyond typical planting schemes. It could be a worthwhile consideration for more substantive developments in the district, which plan to create new spaces for planting and greening.
boost urban biodiversity
SUGi’s ultra-dense forests are species-rich but have a small footprint
F orests contain the majority of life on Earth, including around 80 per cent of the planet’s terrestrial species, and a healthy forest supports biodiversity in the canopy, the forest floor, and the soil. Now, a US-based organisation, SUGi, is bringing these benefits to urban districts through the planting of hundreds of small-scale, urban ‘pocket’ forests around the world. The group uses the Miyawaki Method, named after Japanese botanist Dr Akira Miyawaki, which involves careful soil preparation and dense planting of a range of native plants beneficial to wildlife – all in an area around the size of a tennis court. The resulting pocket forests are 30 times denser and 100 times more biodiverse than conventional tree plantations. To date, SUGi has planted 200 of its pocket forests, including 342,654 native trees, in 42 cities. This includes 34 projects in the UK and 22 in London, including several in Kensington and Knightsbridge. One of these, the ‘Serenity’ forest, was developed in partnership with Louis Vuitton,
the trees reached a height of 2 metres with a 95 per cent survival rate. Cadogan and Louis Vuitton have also partnered with SUGi on a different project, the ‘Heritage’ forest, in Kensington and Chelsea, which was planted in October 2021. Surface temperature readings taken at the forest site on a hot August day in 2023 were 17.6 degrees Celsius lower than a nearby pavement. Elise Van Middelem, founder and CEO of SUGi explains that “the modern trend towards monoculture tree planting or the placement of single isolated trees in skirts of concrete gives a false sense of having ‘done something’ meaningful.” According to her, SUGi’s pocket forests “have the highest survival rate in the industry because they are right at the heart of the community and foster a very high sense of stewardship.”
To date, SUGi has planted 200 of its pocket forests, including 342,654 native trees, in 42 cities
Cadogan, and Moët and Chandon, and was planted over a 240 square-metre area in November 2022. After 10 months
SUGi provides an example of how greenery can be brought into the public realm in a meaningful and inclusive way. A key element of its approach is to build faith in the authenticity of greening efforts, with the organisation publishing verifiable growth reports on each forest. SUGi also offers fellowships that provide fully funded training in how to create local Miyawaki forests, complete with mentoring.
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