A trend that's gaining momentum around the world is finally set to reach Manhattan. This is a small forest that will be created in the East River basin at the southern end of Roosevelt Island starting this spring. According to its creators, the building, a first for the city, will feature 1,000 species of plants, trees and shrubs and will occupy just 2,700 square feet.
“We are an island. We think about flooding, we think about storm surges. The best cure is to plant trees,” said Cristina Delpico, founder of iDig2Learn, a non-profit organization working to reconnect people with nature and is helping lead the project. “The roots will stabilize the earth. If the soil is good, there will be no flooding. “The concrete jungle needs a small forest.”
This forest, called the Manhattan Healing Forest, will be planted using the Miyawaki method, created by Akira Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist and plant ecologist who won the Blue Planet Award, the highest environmental award in 2006, for his work in restoring the forest ecosystem. First, the land is painstakingly prepared, usually using compost and mulch. Native trees and shrubs are then planted close together to encourage the plants to grow quickly. According to proponents, a Miyawaki-style forest could become self-sufficient within three years and mature within a few decades. In the process, they provide habitat for insects and wildlife, absorb carbon, and purify the air.
Mini-forests have been planted in the thousands worldwide in cities in Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, Russia and the Middle East. Although most forests are only the size of a tennis court, those who created them have reported a variety of benefits, including a cooling effect in warm weather, absorbing floods and even returning birds that locals thought had disappeared.
In the United States, Miyawaki-style forests have been created in Los Angeles, Washington, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, in recent years. One Cambridge mini-forest was planted in Danehy Park, atop an old landfill, described by the city's Forestry and Landscape Director as “phenomenal.”
The Roosevelt Island Mini Forest will be the 200th forest planted by SUGi, a foundation that plans to cover costs that typically average about $200 per 10 square feet. According to SUGi founder Elise van Middelem, 40 species of white oak, Virginia strawberry, butternut, New York fern and eastern white pine will be planted. Delfico said the forest will be built on a large, unused garden bed at Southpoint Park on Roosevelt Island.
“I was just waiting for this little forest,” Mr. Delfico said.
The land is leased from the city by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, and planting by community volunteers is scheduled for April 6.