This section presents scientific facts and figures, articles, reports and videos supporting Miyawaki Forests as a "cheap, secret weapon to fighting climate change."
“Let nature be nature” is a powerful principle—let peatlands, grasslands, and forests continue to do what they do best by protecting them from human disturbance. Where ecosystems have been degraded, restoration can help them recuperate form and function, including absorbing and storing more carbon over time.
Creating new forests where there were none before is the aim of afforestation. Degraded pasture and agricultural lands, or other lands corrupted from uses such as mining, are ripe for strategic planting of trees and perennial biomass.
Afforestation creates a carbon sink, drawing in and holding on to carbon and distributing it into the soil. Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki devised a completely different method of afforestation. His fast-growing, dense plots of native species show that afforestation can draw down carbon, while supporting biodiversity, addressing human needs for firewood, food, and medicine, and providing ecosystem services such as flood and drought protection.
