IMPACTS
Creating a Miyawaki forest is about setting up a real forest ecosystem. Over the years, flowering plants, herbs, mosses, and mushrooms will appear under the cover of trees. The forest provide shelters for many animals: birds, insects, small mammals. A Dutch study showed that animal biodiversity of a Miyawaki forest is on average 18 times higher than that of a conventional forest. Depending on the species, we can observe from 2 to 162 times more.
If you feel blue, go green : Miyawaki forests provide many moments for relaxation and well-being. When part of the living environment, forests help reduce stress, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. As a place to walk, and during planting events, they promote social contact, particularly in urban areas.
A Miyawaki forest is both a sponge and an anti-pollution umbrella. Trees are able to absorb and remove toxic particulate matter with their leaves (at least up to 15% of particulate matter). Forest cover also has a mechanical barrier effect preventing some of the pollution from crossing it.
In summer, heat island phenomena happen a lot in urban areas. Even small forests improve the thermal comfort of people in the surrounding environment. Not only is the air cooler (-2 °C), it is also less dry, and the vegetation provides much appreciated shade.
A Miyawaki forest is one of the most favorable forms of vegetation for reducing noise pollution. An anti-noise Miyawaki forest keeps improving its performance from year to year as it grows allowing a reduction of around 10 dB. It represents an alternative to noise barriers or an inexpensive and aesthetically appreciated addition.
The biomass of a Miyawaki forest of 100 m2 and of average age (a few decades) represents a stock on the order of 6000 kg of carbon dioxide, i.e. two thirds of the annual carbon emissions reports of a European. Each year the forest absorbs 50 kg of additional carbon dioxide. If planting forests cannot compensate for all the pollution, it is still a meaningful environmental action, because forests have many other benefits.
Diversified vegetation such as a Miyawaki forest stabilizes the soil by forming a matrix-pillar system with root entanglements. This protects the land from erosion and can help to restore eroded land.
The presence of a tree cover at properties can increase their price by several thousand euros. It goes without saying that a greener and more natural place of residence is very attractive: the inhabitants benefit from all the benefits mentioned above.
Do you want to know more about benchmark studies? >>> View the report