The Miyawaki Method
Between 1990 and 2015 the world lost 129 million hectares of trees, which equates to an area size of South Africa. Deforestation is responsible for an estimated 5 billion tons, or 17 percent, of annual global carbon emissions. No matter what you believe, reforestation is essential in any conversation regarding climate action. This is why the Miyawaki Method method is such an important topic.
Akira Miyawaki was a Japanese botanist and expert in plant ecology, specialising in seeds and the study of natural forests. He was known worldwide as a specialist in the restoration of natural vegetation on degraded land. He also received the Blue Planet Prize in 2006.
"Rather than scrap them, I want to bring memory objects back to life as earth resources - for the sake of repose of souls, and for the future."
Miyawaki’s opus vitae, was his eponymous method of tree planting, The Miyawaki Method. Miyawaki’s knowledge of the concept of Potential Natural Vegetation; the vegetation that would be expected given environmental constraints without human intervention, along with his studies of phytosociology—the way plant species interact with each other, informed his growing of vegetation throughout his native Japan. While he was planting vegetation around Japan, Miyawaki came across Shinto Sites, and soon realised that these were time capsules, showing how indigenous forests were layered together from four categories of native plantings: main tree species, sub-species, shrubs, and ground-covering herbs.
This idea of layering different categories of native trees, along with his previous knowledge of PNV & phytosociology, led Miyawaki to design his own systems for planting forests, thus the Miyawaki Method was born.
The Miyawaki Method can be broken down as follows:
The first step in the Miyawaki Method is an important one. It’s all about soil. Without strong soil, the forest will not plant effectively. This means that any site is first analysed, to assess what it lacks, and to identify what should be in the soil for it to be improved. This improvement is then provided to the soil through nourishment, using locally abundant, sustainable resources (manure, rick husk etc.)
After this, seedlings from the 4 different categories of native plants (see above) are planted densely, in a random order. This usually equates to almost 20,000 to 30,000 per hectare as opposed to 1,000 per hectare in commercial forestry. The forest is then watered, weeded and monitored closely for a period of 2-3 years, after which it becomes self-sustaining.
By planting native trees very close together an underground root network establishes very quickly. This undersoil root network provides many benefits to the trees including the ability to pass nutrients and water to the trees that need them most. In traditional forestry, 1 meter of growth per year is considered the norm. In the Miyawaki method, trees grow about 10 times faster. This grows into a forest so dense that after only a year or so, sunlight can’t reach the ground. At this point, every drop of rain that falls is conserved. The more the forest grows, the more it generates nutrients for itself, accelerating growth. This density also means that individual trees begin competing for sunlight in unusually close quarters, which also accelerates growth.
Miyawaki planted over 40 million trees in this way, in 15 countries. In Japan alone, 90 million are to be planted along to coast, to act as a buffer against future tsunami disasters. Miyawaki continued to plant trees until his death in July of this year, at the ripe age of 93.
"I am still only Eighty Six Years Old! It is a sign of vitality that I continue to Work. I'll plant trees with people for the next Thirty Years".
If you’re looking for some information regarding the Miyawaki Method, we’ve a list of some additional information about the method below:
https://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/how-to-make-mini-forest-miyawaki-method-34867
http://akiramiyawaki.com/
https://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id030816.html
