Why a decades-old forest planting practice from Japan is gaining traction in the U.S.
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Why a decades-old forest planting practice from Japan is gaining traction in the U.S.
By Lauren Gallup, Courtney Flatt, Bianca Garcia
Thursday, May 21, 2026 • 4:22 PM EDT
Heard on All Things Considered
NPR is dedicating a week to stories and conversations about how communities are moving forward on climate solutions despite significant political headwinds. As the federal government halts plans to address climate change, states, cities, regions and even neighborhoods are trying to fill the gap by cutting climate pollution and adapting to extreme weather.
TACOMA, Wash. — Wendy Clapp dreamt of turning her backyard in Tacoma into a Pacific Northwest forest. But for 25 years, she was stuck fighting back an aggressive invasive species that filled the yard: Japanese knotweed.<br>Her search to destroy this noxious bamboo-like weed and restore her yard got her thinking.<br>" What if Tacoma had never been developed?" Clapp questioned.<br>She imagined her Victorian home as it might have existed hundreds of years ago, with native plants all around.<br>Clapp turned to a decades-old planting method from Japan to design her forest. The Miyawaki method involves planting native trees and vegetation close together — so densely that 350 trees can fit in an area as small as six parking spaces. The plants compete for nutrients and sunlight, forcing them to grow quickly. Within 20 to 30 years, a fully mature pocket forest emerges.<br>Clapp's forest begins through a wooden gate.<br>Wild strawberries, ferns and Pacific ninebark cover the ground.<br>A big leaf maple stands not far from Clapp's pride and joy, her paper birch.
Related Story: NPR<br>Clapp's burgeoning pocket-size forest is one of thousands found throughout the world, including India, Ireland, Brazil and the U.S.<br>The Yakama Nation in Washington state planted a small forest at the Yakama Nation Corrections & Rehabilitation Facility six years ago.<br>"We live in such a world right now, where we strive to learn about what [undisturbed land] looked like without knowing it," said Marylee Jones, a gatherer and member of the Yakama Nation. "When you do things like this, you're setting up opportunities."<br>Those opportunities include shade for visitors during hot summer months in the high desert. It's also a place to heal and to learn about traditional plants.<br>"When you're out here, you start to understand the value of sunshine, and you start to understand the value of not just the tick-tock of the clock, but of how many heartbeats you have in one day," Jones said.
Related Story: NPR<br>On the other side of the country in May, 50-some volunteers gathered in Attleboro, Mass., to plant a Miyawaki-style forest. Hundreds of trees and plants will turn an abandoned baseball field into an area that can absorb water during heavy rain.<br>The forests are helping communities adapt to a warming world. But as to whether they can reduce planet-warming pollution? That's less clear. Researchers tell NPR those benefits might be overstated.<br>A forest born out of industrialization
The late Japanese ecologist and botanist Akira Miyawaki developed this planting method in the 1970s. He wanted to re-create lush native forests preserved in sacred areas near temples and shrines in Japan.<br>He imagined a place before people and what vegetation would have naturally existed. This concept of potential natural vegetation helped him select different native species for projects. He then planted a variety of trees tightly together. He found that these forests competed for sunlight and nutrients, which forced them to grow up to 10 times faster than if they had taken root on their own.<br>Japanese law in the 1970s required industrial companies to have green areas on their sites to prevent pollution and disasters.<br>Fumito Koike, a professor emeritus specializing in ecology at Yokohama National University, where Miyawaki taught, said Japanese companies asked Miyawaki to plant small, dense forests on their lands.
Related Story: NPR<br>Miyawaki worked with companies, including Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi, hosting workshops for employees to teach them how to quickly turn barren land into rich, mature forests.<br>Soon, Miyawaki's work took off. Japanese multinational companies asked him to work on their sites overseas. Miyawaki, who died in 2021, led plantings in 15 different countries, including Malaysia and China.<br>He claimed that restoring native forests is one of the best ways to prevent further ecological disasters and improve carbon dioxide absorption.<br>Are mini-forests a climate solution?
"I believe that creating indigenous and real forests, and covering as much of the land as possible with forests, is the most certain and effective measure to reduce carbon dioxide," Miyawaki wrote in his essay "A Call to Plant Trees."<br>The method has caught on, but whether these pocket forests are the golden ticket for sucking up and storing...