Miyawaki Report - Nov 2021
Hello 16 Richmond BC Miyawaki Cheerleaders,
Here is the Monthly Report for November 2021:
Miyawaki Forests in Canada:
Thanks to Eugene from RSS, we discovered that Canada already has at least 2 Miyawaki Forests in Southern Ontario
the Miyawaki consultant there is Dugan & Associates based in Guelph. Here are some quotes from their email to us:
"We have installed a couple and are working with a few more groups in Ontario. There are others in BC who have reached out to us. I would be happy to connect you with them."
"Toronto District School Board who is also planning a number of Miyawaki forests across Toronto"
"Super exciting about your Miyawaki Forest initiative. Happy to answer any questions. Once you have your forest planned/planted, we’d love for you to add it to our website."
Richmond Secondary School (RSS):
Miyawaki Forest Planning is proceeding nicely
I met with RSS greenteam and Eugene for a short miyawaki powerpoint followed by a planning session onsite
Eugene and I filled out most of the $10k grant to fund the forest creation
J Peachy made a first draft map of the proposed forest
BC Hydro sent us a map of the cable that runs to their box ... it crosses the proposed forest diagonally... which could be a great location for a benched pathway (so that BC Hydro can access the cable without messing up the forest)
We now know there is no map of the irrigation system AND confirmation that we can nevertheless proceed with earthworks from SD38
Informal Richmond Backyard Nursery Coop:
Sabine discovered how the Dutch came up with cunning way to create forests for free which we would like to implement here
I collected a dozen saplings (mainly Hawthorn and Birch) from 2 fellow Miyawaki cheerleaders backyards
this proves that the concept works with minimal effort:
The saplings were spontaneous (just like in the article above from Sabine).
The owners notified me to pick them up with a small spade and transport via cargo bike to a central location for distribution to our (currently one and only) pocket forest on Minler
BTW, I observed birds enjoying the 8 month old Minler Pocket Forest which brought joy to my heart: it proves that when we build it, they DO come!
