Tiny Forests brings the benefits of woodland right into the heart of our cities and urban spaces: connecting people with nature, helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change, as well as providing nature-rich habitat to support urban wildlife.
A Tiny Forest is a dense fast-growing native woodland, based on an established forest management method developed in the 1970s by Dr Akira Miyawaki.
Earthwatch is pioneering Tiny Forest in the UK and is conducting a UK-wide research study to help us understand how these super tiny woods have the potential to be super powerful.
We have over 300 across the UK and more in Europe.
We encourage you to find your local Tiny Forest and use it as an outdoor classroom (look here to see a few examples of the benefits of outdoor education)! We have plenty of resources to support you with this.
Tiny Forests provide an accessible free outdoor space that has built in scientific activities to undertake. Tiny Forests can promote strong and lasting connections to nature in students, build teachers skills and confidence in leading inspiring outdoor learning, and provide the opportunity to be part of a larger scientific experiment.
They are living laboratories where we collect environmental and social data, through citizen science, to help us understand the benefits these forests provide over time. This gives students the opportunity to part take in real science whilst educators can discuss complex wider issues such as climate change with students. These difficult conversations can be paired with examples of solutions being tested in the Tiny Forests.
Filmed with Queensmead Primary Academy and Fullhurst Community College
at Leicester's first Tiny Forest supported by the OVO Foundation.
Environmental issues such as flooding, heat stress and loss of biodiversity are increasingly affecting urban areas. Creating thriving and climate-resilient urban areas which also enhance livelihoods and wellbeing, is a considerable challenge.
Citizen science experiments in the Tiny Forests monitor 4 key themes to understand the environmental impacts of the forest and further drive positive action for the planet. These experiments can be done by you and your students - simple Citizen Science guides can be found in our resources section below.
What are these key themes?
When planted, 100 trees are tagged to allow ongoing monitoring of carbon capture at each Tiny Forest. The elements monitored here will be tree diameter, height and mortality. We expect to see an increased rate of carbon capture through an accelerated growth rate – increased photosynthesis rate means more carbon capture, whilst more biomass production means more carbon storage.
Biodiversity is expected to improve because Tiny Forests are creating lots of different niches and habitat opportunities for organisms. These patches of forest can contribute to the wider urban green network providing corridors and stepping-stones between existing urban green space. Biodiversity will be monitored in 3 categories, butterflies, pollinators, and ground dwellers.
Tiny Forests have the potential to help regulate urban temperatures. In warm conditions, water taken up by trees evaporates through their leaves, cooling down the immediate environment. As this increases, the tree and its surrounding environment stay at a lower temperature. Trees also provide shade! The elements monitored here will be air temperature, humidity, wind speed and personal experience.
Tree roots help water penetrate deeper into the soil at a faster rate, meaning less surface run-off and more water storage in the soil. Tree leaves, branches and trunks intercept rainwater slowing down the effect of rain (it doesn't all hit the ground at once). The elements monitored here will be infiltration rate, soil moisture, soil compaction, soil texture and soil colour. You may have to get your hands muddy!
Here you can find free teacher and pupil resources created by the Earthwatch Education team. These resources have been developed to support you in taking curriculum learning outside the classroom and into inspiring green spaces such as your Tiny Forest.
Resources cover Key Stage one, two & three, and the National Curriculum for Excellence.
We have been awarded the LOtC Quality Badge! The only national award that recognises both learning and safety for learning outside the classroom providers and is endorsed by the Department of Education.