Root to Canopy: Growing the Miyawaki Method
In 2025, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate organized and hosted the inaugural Northeast Miniforest Summit, bringing together more than a dozen speakers across two virtual half-days and an in-person bus tour. Practitioners, researchers, and leaders from diverse fields gathered to explore the Miyawaki method of afforestation from root to canopy, while sharing experiences from planting, maintaining, and learning from miniforests across the region.
Through our Miyawaki Forest Program, we continue to play an active role in supporting the growth of the miniforest movement in our region — not only in square meters planted, but in relationships, stewardship, and shared learning.
Below, we invite you to explore summaries and reflection questions from Day 2 of the summit, spanning the role of miniforests in supporting biodiversity, emerging scientific research on their ecological impacts, and practical insights on initiating, designing, stewarding, and adapting miniforest projects across diverse landscapes.
The Role of Miniforests in Homegrown National Park
In this presentation, Dr. Doug Tallamy invites us to look closely at the places we move through every day—lawns, backyards, streets—and to notice how biodiversity loss is woven into how these landscapes are shaped and managed. Miniforests suggest another possibility: small, multilayered, diverse pockets of life where key host-plant relationships can be re-established.
With residential land covering vast stretches of the U.S., Tallamy reminds us that the future of biodiversity will be shaped not only in parks and preserves, but in the everyday places in between—especially private and residential land.
He also leaves us with an open question that invites continued inquiry over time: how well can miniforests support biodiversity?
This presentation leaves us with a few reflections to sit with:
- Can you choose one native tree or shrub near you and imagine—or draw—the relationships it supports?
- How might we shift our relationship with plants from aesthetics alone toward ecological function?
- Life depends on movement. In what ways could miniforests reopen pathways for species, energy, and relationships to move through human-dominated landscapes?
Scientific Research (Current and Emerging) around Miniforests
This session explored what we’re beginning to learn from early scientific research and data collection methods on miniforests in Massachusetts and Belgium.
The presenters shared early findings from the first summers of data collection, including research on how miniforests might cool their surroundings by comparing different surface covers and tracking temperature changes throughout the day; studies designed to measure insect diversity and herbivory in Miyawaki forests compared to other urban spaces; observations of plant growth and survival over time; and data on soil biology, water infiltration, and data collection methods. The session also drew on a detailed Report on the Evolution of Six Miyawaki Forests in Belgium.This session leaves us with a few reflections to sit with:
- How does knowledge of miniforests unfold over time, and what comes into view through different ways of studying them?
- What early signals—cooling patterns, soil change, insect activity—are most important to track in the first few years of a miniforest, and which signals require much longer timeframes to fully understand?
- How do the tools and methods we choose (from sensors to simple field observations) shape what we are able to notice—and what might they still miss about how miniforests function?
The Life-Cycle of a Miniforest Project: Initiating, Creating, Stewarding & Educating
Moderated by Executive Director Beck Mordini and Associate Director of Regenerative Projects Alexandra Ionescu, this discussion brought together municipal leaders, for-profit practitioners, botanists, and community members through a series of practical questions. The conversation explored the key stages and challenges of a miniforest project—from securing land, funding, and community support, to site preparation and planting, to long-term stewardship and volunteer involvement, and finally to education, including how miniforests can be integrated into schools and contribute to research and public understanding. The discussion unfolded dynamically, allowing topics to emerge organically and some areas to be explored in greater depth than others.
Throughout the conversation, a series of practical questions guided the discussion:
- What are the biggest challenges in securing land for miniforest projects, and how do implementers navigate competing land uses and pushback?
- How do existing municipal plans shape where miniforests can happen, and how can residents find and advocate within those pathways?
- When initiating a miniforest as a community member, where do you start, and what kinds of municipal support help move a project forward?
- How are concerns about maintenance, forest spread, and long-term protection addressed over time?
- When beginning to understand a site, what sources help identify appropriate forest plant communities?
- Using local ecotypic plants is part of the method—what does that mean, and what models or partnerships could help grow and source them?
- How can miniforests become part of more outdoor educational programs, especially in schools?
The Miyawaki Method vs. Ecology of Place: Experimentation & Curiosity in Canada’s Miniforest Network by Heather Schibili
The last session of the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit, “The Miyawaki Method vs. Ecology of Place: Experimentation & Curiosity in Canada’s Miniforest Network,” explored many interconnected themes—how planting a miniforest is fundamentally different from planting trees; what is negotiable and non-negotiable within the Miyawaki method; Canada’s growing network of miniforests and its evolving community of practice; and Heather’s four-year-old backyard miniforest in Toronto, Ontario.
Rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach, Heather highlighted the importance of experimentation, curiosity, and responsive adaptation to local ecological conditions. While the Miyawaki method offers step-by-step guidelines, Heather encouraged practitioners to honor the unique ecology of each site and shared lessons grounded in her hands-on experimentation and experience with the method. Through her examples, she opened space to consider climate-informed design and, where appropriate, assisted migration—not as a way to replicate the past, but to support miniforests as they adapt to changing environmental conditions.
This session leaves us with a few reflections to sit with:
- What does it mean to truly design with the ecology of a place—its soils, plant communities, and future climate—rather than applying a fixed method or template?
- What role should climate forecasts and assisted migration play in restoring ecosystems for future conditions, not just reconstructing the past?
- How might curiosity, adaptation, and continual learning from ecological processes reshape not only how we implement and steward miniforests, but how we understand responsibility, stewardship, and our place within the web of life?
We hope these reflections and questions spark ideas and deepen your own thinking.
The conversations from the summit highlight both the possibilities and the practical considerations of planting miniforests. We invite you to explore these insights and consider how this work might take root in your own community.
Share your thoughts with us at miniforests@bio4climate.org, or leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you as we begin shaping the 2026 summit.