Miyawaki Tree Planting across Barking & Dagenham
Following the success of the Forest of Thanks in Parsloes Park, and other areas planted in LBBD over recent years with SUGI, we are excited to announce that funding has been secured for more Miyawaki ‘mini-forests’ to be planted in THREE parks across the borough: Castle Green, Goresbrook Park and Fels Field in Eastbrookend Country Park.
This will be a great boost for wildlife and biodiversity, as well as improving air quality and helping to combat climate change. More details about the Miyawaki Method here: The Miyawaki Method for Creating Forests | SUGi
The planting will take place in early 2025 and, due to the sheer number of saplings to be planted (36,350 trees!) some of the work will be carried out by contractors, but we are really keen for local residents and community groups to take part as well. Keep an eye on our Parks & Open Spaces newsletters for more information.
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Parsloes Park ‘Forest of Thanks’ Phase 2
From January to March 2022, we along with our partners The Conservation Volunteers planted phase 2 of the Forest of Thanks at Parsloes Park with a further 8,000 saplings, taking the Forest of Thanks to 40,000 trees planted.
Eastbrookend Country Park
For National Tree Week 2021 we planted just under 2000 native trees and shrubs in the park with help from volunteers and school children. The planting took place during the week of 22 November 2021.
Forest of Thanks Phase 1 Planted 2020
The Barking & Dagenham Ranger Service partnered up with The Conservation Volunteers (TCV), who work across the UK to create healthier and happier communities, and SUGi Projects, an international organisation specialising in urban rewilding.
Works on the forest started in October 2020. Planting took place in November – December 2020 during National Tree Week.
Following on from this, there were opportunities for residents to help further with the planting when it was safe to do so after covid restrictions.
This ambitious project involved planting 32,000 native trees and shrubs following a new planting method called Miyawaki, which establishes a forest up to 30 times more dense than conventional tree planting. It also grows 10 times faster than regular forests and is a chemical and fertiliser free forest that sustains itself once established and supports local biodiversity.
Just four years after planting, the ‘Forest of Thanks’ will deliver benefits including:
- absorbing 24,000 kg of carbon: up to 30 times better absorption compared to other tree-planting schemes
- a huge increase in biodiversity
- processing 1,500,000 litres of rain
- improving air quality by reducing polluting floating particulates by up to 10%
- up to 30 times better noise reduction compared to other tree-planting schemes
When completed, the ‘Forest of Thanks’ will be the largest Miyawaki Forest in the UK and Europe.
A garden / meadow of remembrance will be incorporated within the ‘Forest of Thanks’ at a later date to commemorate residents who lost their lives to COVID-19 during the pandemic.