An artist’s enthusiastic vision of the fully mature Mahattan Healing Forest (from SUGi)

Spring is starting to spring everywhere (even if January and February of 2024 were astonishingly mild in New York, it was still, ya know, winter) and, as April and May approach, a whole bunch of flower and bloom posts are in the offing here at Ferrebeekeeper! Thank goodness! Sometimes it is necessary to take a break from the broken realms of politics and culture to go outside and appreciate the greenery. Pursuant to which, today we have an uplifting post about an amazing plan by SUGi (an organization which supports urban forests) to plant a pocket forest here in New York City. This may seems like a post about a small native garden, but I believe the micro-forest is much larger and more important than its name might initially suggest.

The “Manhattan Healing Forest” is scheduled to be constructed/planted on Roosevelt Island in April. For non-New Yorkers, Roosevelt Island is a 150 acre island in the East River which was used throughout the 19th century as a forbidden institutional island of hospitals, prisons, and sanitariums, but which is now a more conventional residential community (even though it is only arms-length from the dense skyscrapers of Midtown). The forest will consist of more than a thousand native plants carefully arranged in accordance with the the renowned “Miyawaki Method” (named for the Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki) which focuses on sustainability, ecological mutualism, and native planting. The method involves a holistic “bottom-up” planting strategy: first the land is stripped to the foundation and then an entire humus layer of compost and mulch is installed all at once. Upon this rich mulch, native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers are planted close together at the same time–which fosters rapid growth (since the native plants grow in symbiosis with each other and with the local insects, fungi, actinomycetes, and other lifeforms). Thanks to mutualism (and the benefits of being in the proper ecological niche) Miyawaki-style forests can reach full maturity in mere decades. 

As you can see in the thrilling aerial photo above, the forest will indeed be tiny (there is the footprint, outlined in bold white). At 250 square meters (2700 square feet) it is only the size of a small back yard. However the effects of these little wildlife refuges are bigger than their square footage: such miniature wildernesses provide an opportunity for birds, insects and other animals to maintain a footprint even in the densest city. Humans benefit as well: the rooted greenery help prevent erosion and soak up rainfall while capturing carbon and otherwise filtering the air (in addition to providing a respite from hectic city life for locals). According to SUGi’s founder, some of the 40 species of flora planned for the Manhattan forest “include white oak, Virginia strawberry, butternut, New York fern and eastern white pine” .

The SUGi micro forest is designed to anchor the roots of the island against extreme weather and to provide a place of tranquil refuge to thoughtful humans However, more importantly, it is part of a hidden worldwide archipelago of ecological refugia across the world. SUGi’s little native growth forests compliment the wilderness areas, cemeteries, parks, gardens, yards, and even vacant lots which are part of the urban landscape. By stitching together these tiny safe spaces, living things can maintain a toehold in what first seems to be a wasteland of concrete, glass, and asphalt.

Humans are the architects of the urban world–we could build our cities into glorious wonderlands of self-reinforcing life. Yet generally the rancid developers, cruel traffic engineers (who hate all living things with boundless antipathy), & crooked politicians who hog the blueprints of urban planning can only envision lifeless concrete worlds hostile to ecology and inimical to lifeforms other than mean bald guys in SUVs. Lately though, there is a pervasive sense that the selfish “humans-only” model of city-building is not just failing other lifeforms, it is failing humans too. Like a coconut landing on a beach after a volcano eruption, the mini-forest is a foothold for disrupted ecosystems to reestablish itself.

Throughout the decades I have lived in New York City, I think I have been to Roosevelt Island once (when I got off the subway at the wrong stop by accident). Maybe it is time to head out there again and see the city from a new standpoint (both literally and ecologically).