The theme this year for Amach Anseo is trees and community. The aim of the Tiny Forest project is to reach out to the wider community beyond the garden at The Potting Shed. Through this project Rebecca will work with the community through workshops to create 3 ‘Choill Bheag’ or Tiny Forest based on the Myawaki Method in the Buncrana area.
Working with the support of the town gardener George McDermott and DCC Area Roads Engineer Eamon Mahon three sites in housing estates have been identified and approved for this project. Learning about tree planting will give people the knowledge and skills to create a densely planted forest in their neighborhood. The project is supported by Changemakers Donegal ‘Seeds of Change’ project. Mentorship by Patsy Toland is included in this support.
The series of workshops delivered by local forest conservation expert Michiel Verspuji will take the community in the housing estates through each step of the process and will be delivered online via Zoom to adhere to current Covid 19 guidelines and restrictions.
About the Tiny Forest
The forests that emerge thanks to Akira Miyawaki are thus distinguished from the forests obtained by a conventional reforestation method by three main aspects:
-a development 10 times faster, thanks to the emulation created between the plants;
-a density 30 times higher, which allows a greater quantity of CO2 to be absorbed;
-a biodiversity 100 times higher, thanks to the density of vegetation that does not allow man to access the forest
Timescale and planning
The overall project will take approximately 1 year with research already underway. Start date for community workshops will be in late January 2021 and continue until Summer 2021 when the ground will be prepared for proposed community planting in Autumn when bare root trees are available. There will be 6-8 online community workshops at 1hr duration throughout the project.
The trees will be sourced through Trees On The Land and delivered in February. Due to covid restrictions the participants will be asked to ‘foster a sapling’ until we are ready to plant in Autumn. This will encourage involvement in the welfare of the forest.
Sustainable Development Goals
Project aligns with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals
Goal 4: Quality Education – providing access to lifelong learning through relevant workshops Goal 11: Sustainable Cities + Communities -making safe, resilient sustainability through building strong neighborly relationships
Goal 13: Climate Action: taking urgent action to combat climate change by absorbing CO2 through afforestation
Goal 15: Life on Land: halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss by using degraded land to create a site for thriving biodiversity.
Outcomes;
– increased awareness of climate crisis and actions that can be taken to protect the earth
– Choill Bheag/Miyawaki Forests created locally
– community empowered to make change happen
Benefits:
– better community cohesion
– confidence through learning
– reduced CO2
– improved biodiversity