Climate crisis is once again the central talking point of the contemporary world. Despite the various warnings from the experts, we failed to heed their caution, and now we accelerate towards a rather predictable apocalypse fairly soon. However, the youth, for whom this remains the most pertinent problem, have pledged to secure their own future by breeding a sustainable environment. They plan to achieve this by taking the most basic of steps, i.e. addressing the deforestation problems resulting from centuries of humanity's interferance with nature to fuel its own ambition. For example, a young social activist group in Raipur, Chattisgarh has been using the Miyawaki method.
This social activist group named ‘Young India Group’ has planted a “mini-forest” in the Chattisgarh capital, Raipur in order to battle the increasing air pollution in the city. The main attraction of this forest is that over 2,500 saplings of various varieties, including mango, neem, banyan, medicinal plants, and others, are planted in a land area measuring around 5,000 square feet at Gandhi Udyan in Raipur. The volunteers of the Young India Group planted the sapling through the Miyawaki method in September 2023, which grew into a mini forest in less than a year.
So, the youth are taking steps to fix an maintain a sustainable environment for the upcoming generations. But to achieve this purpose, they are using the Miyawaki concept for forestation. But the question arises, what is the Miyawaki concept? How is it advantageous? Howe does one go about doing it? Read on as we delve into the details:
According to the National Forest Policy of India, the ideal percentage of total geographical area under forest should be at least 33% to maintain ecological stability. India had pledged to increase the forest cover to 33% under the Paris Agreement in 2015. However, it currently covers just 24.62% of the country's land and is shrinking rapidly. In order to reach the target, India adopted several Miyawaki projects.
Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki invented the Miyawaki technique to create dense forests with native plants. This unique method is used worldwide for urban afforestation by growing a forest in someone’s backyard. It mimics the way that a forest would recolonise itself without any human interference, or if the humans suddenly vanished from the face of the earth.
