This article is a summary of the podcast conversation A Local Tiny Forest with Big Benefits featuring Anna Noon of The Groundswell Collective. Listen here to the full episode on Spotify podcasts or Apple podcasts, go here for the relevant links mentioned in the podcast, or read on to enjoy the photos and summary about the Tiny Forests in Lake Macquarie.

A Local Tiny Forest with Big Benefits

You know that feeling when it’s a super hot day. You’re in a built up environment surrounded by hard surfaces such as roads, car parks and buildings jam-packed together. The radiating heat is overwhelming.

Now, imagine a place where native trees, plants and creatures flourish. You feel and see the wind and stay cool in the dappled shade. It’s a pocket of nature that’s right in the heart of your urban space where it’s needed the most. This is a tiny forest.

What is a Tiny Forest?

A tiny forest is a densely packed patch of native species grown in loosened and improved soil. Based on a planting methodology developed in Japan in the 1970s, tiny forests are a type of rapid regeneration that can be retrofitted into urban spaces, bringing nature back to underutilised land in suburbia, right back into the community.

A tiny forest is more about the size of the land they occupy rather than plant size and their rapid growth is a key benefit.

Restoring Native Plant Communities

The Groundswell Collective researches the original plant community of a site, focusing on native species. They then replant those indigenous species in the same ratios as you’d find them in nature, but very densely.

Loosening and improving the soil, combined with dense planting, creates competition among plants. As roots grow quickly, they race to out-compete each other for sunlight, resulting in rapid growth.

The rapid growth is 10 times faster than average. While it might typically take 200 years to create a complete ecosystem, tiny forests can do the same in just 20 years.

How the Tiny Forest Idea Took Root

The idea for a tiny forest grew from Anna Noon’s study in the Sustainable Living course at the University of Tasmania, where students were encouraged to find local solutions to global problems.

In Anna’s home town of Lake Macquarie NSW, rapid population growth and high demand for housing have led to significant habitat loss due to land clearing. This deep dive into biodiversity loss became the impetus for finding a solution that a community group could tackle.

Anna’s research included chats with local greening groups who’ve been doing nature-based solutions for years, such as Trees in Newcastle, ReLeaf Lake Mac, and the Hunter Wetlands Centre. The key question: “If I were to run a community project, what would you want it to look like?” The response:

“We want to plant more trees, but we also want something that inspires, brings hope, and teaches the value of tree planting and habitat.”

Further research led Anna to the Tiny Forest concept—an evidence-based model proven to work in over 3,000 locations worldwide. Few had started planting them in Australia when Anna’s idea took root!

Bringing Nature to Community

The goal of Tiny Forests is to bring nature to where people engage—where they can see, acknowledge, and interact with it. This connection had been missing, as many greening groups historically focus on weed removal and bush regeneration in hard-to-reach, inaccessible areas.

Empowering the Community

People are eager to take positive action for the environment, so engaging the community is simple. All it takes is a morning of tree planting. With so much anxiety around climate change, the Tiny Forest project gives people opportunities to do something proactively. And that’s incredibly empowering.

Lake Mac’s First Tiny Forest

Lake Macquarie’s first tiny forest was planted at Teralba in May 2023. Thirteen months later, it has reached a height of 5.5 metres—nearly three times the average person’s height.

From the street, the Tiny Forest is densely packed, with a diverse range of plants and a sandstone yarning circle in the middle. This circle is an invitation for people to sit and immerse themselves in the forest, which is a key part of the vision.

Big Impact of the Tiny Forest

Before the Lake Mac Tiny Forest, the land was an underutilised grassy space on the Council’s mowing schedule, located in a quiet cul-de-sac but next to a main road. The Groundswell Collective transformed this high-maintenance grass space into a self-supporting ecosystem.

Now, people frequent the Tiny Forest, and there’s a real community spirit around it. The local primary school helped with the initial planting, and their involvement has had a positive ripple effect.

Following the first planting, Tiny Forests have been established at Teralba Public School and in a private backyard. Anna was committed to having the first project in a publicly accessible location. But the benefits—carbon capture, habitat provision, and urban cooling—apply wherever the forest is located.

The Role of Citizen Science

Measuring the growth of the initial Tiny Forest includes the help of a citizen science initiative that’s done in partnership with Earthwatch Australia. Due to the trees’ height, a special measuring pole was used, as traditional tape measures and ladders couldn’t reach the top. Anna mentioned that no-one was prepared for the growth rate!

For future citizen science data collection, the trees may be marked as too tall to measure, given their height and density.

For each Tiny Forest project, people have the chance to become a Tree Keeper. Tree Keepers are committed to engaging with the forest over a longer period of time, helping to maintain the site by checking for weeds and litter every three to six months.

Citizen Science data measures:

Carbon capture: Measuring plant diameter and height.
Pollinator studies
Ground dweller studies
Temperature studies: Comparing temperatures inside and outside the forest, and on nearby roads.
Infiltration studies: Assessing flood mitigation.
Social studies: Gauging how people feel before and after visiting a Tiny Forest.

It Starts with Soil

The soil preparation process lays good foundations for a thriving Tiny Forest.

Begin by excavating and adding organic materials like compost from food waste (avoiding fertilisers and synthetics), sheep manure, and straw. This healthy soil supports vigorous plant growth.

The trees naturally drop their leaves, creating living mulch that nourishes the soil, which in turn feeds the trees. This cycle of growth absorbs carbon and releases oxygen, which in turn makes it a healthier and better place to live.

As a whole ecosystem of native species that are indigenous to the site, the Tiny Forest provides the best food and shelter for local wildlife as well.

Replicating a Climax Forest

The Groundswell Collective focuses on planting shrubs and canopy species, avoiding grasses and climbers, which tend to choke the trees. In untouched bushland, you mostly find large eucalyptus trees with some understorey.

Once the plants are selected for their species and density, Tiny Forest volunteers randomly choose where to plant them in the space. This spontaneous planting contrasts with the structured, clinical methods of traditional landscaping that we’re accustomed to, and adds to the genuineness of the project.

One common question is whether trees will survive when planted so closely together. Anna beautifully addresses this:

“Trees are like people. They do better with friends… We know trees talk to one another. We know they interact with one another…and that’s what we’re trying to recreate.”

The Importance of Wildlife Habitats

Tiny forests are a great habitat for wildlife. With large parcels of land being cleared, animals are pushed to the brink. Traditionally, rich habitats were along coastlines and waterlines—areas where people also prefer to live. This overlap has created a tension between human development and wildlife.

The number of threatened species in urban areas is startling, and urban populations are growing exponentially. While Tiny Forests aren’t a complete solution, Anna sees them as a valuable step toward restoring balance.

Simple Ways to Support Wildlife in Your Backyard

While planting a forest in your backyard might not be realistic, there are still ways you can do something. You can:

Create a pollinator pot with native flowering species and place it on your verandah if you have limited space.
Research animals or birds you want to attract to your area.
Find out which plants suit your local environment, using resources like Trees in Newcastle or your local Landcare centre.
Sign up for programs like Lake Macquarie City Council’s Backyard Habitat for Wildlife.
Provide water, as all animals need it.
Be a responsible pet owner by keeping your cats indoors, as they pose a significant threat to Australian native species.

It’s possible to incorporate elements of a Tiny Forest into your backyard by digging the soil, adding organic soil, and planting densely. Keep in mind that smaller areas may not achieve the same results due to the edge effect.

For more specific examples, listen to the podcast here, either on spotify, you tube or apple podcasts…otherwise listen here…

Plans for the Tiny Forests

As of June 2024, there are three Tiny Forests in the ground, with 4-5 more coming soon, including school-based forests, a project at Tocal Agricultural College and a neighbouring site next to Urban Hum’s Tiny Forest at Cardiff Heights.

Key Challenges

Ongoing challenges are about aligning land and funding, in addition to allowing enough lead time to do the process justice and accommodating the seasonal nature of planting a Tiny Forest.

Criteria for Tiny Forest Sites

When selecting land for a Tiny Forest, several criteria must be met:

The land must be underutilised; existing trees are never removed for planting.
It should receive up to 8 hours of sunlight.
There must be no underground or overhead utilities.
The site must be accessible to water.
It should be about 200 square metres, roughly the size of a tennis court.

Nature-Based Solution for Climate Change

Tiny forests are about localising environmental action and offer a nature-based solution that helps mitigate the bigger picture of climate change. They work alongside other efforts, as no single solution can tackle climate change alone. We desperately need to capture and reduce carbon. Tiny Forests are part of the broader climate strategy picture.

In schools, Tiny Forests help educate children about climate change. When kids hear about climate change, and think about their future, they often feel powerless in what they can do. We want to avoid making people feel immobilised and therefore do nothing.

By inviting children to plant and care for trees, we show them how their actions capture carbon, provide habitat, and also improve their mood, cognition, and connection to nature. Tiny Forests are a way to get people outside, in the sunshine, and connect with nature right in their schoolyards.

Boosting Biodiversity & Environmental Health

At the original Lake Mac Tiny Forest in Teralba, the studies revealed a significant increase in biodiversity. Before the Tiny Forest, only ants were present. Since then, there’s clear evidence of:

Leafcutter bees
Insects like millipedes, centipedes, and spiders
Ground dwellers such as bugs, beetles, and worms
Birds

In addition to boosting biodiversity, the Tiny Forest offers environmental benefits including:

Reducing air pollution
Minimising noise pollution
Cooling urban areas
Capturing carbon

Trees are amazing!

The ReNewy Living Podcast was recorded on Awabakal country. I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and waters in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region of New South Wales.

I hope you’re feeling more confident about doing better for our people and planet by taking a start where you live approach to living sustainably. If this episode has spurred you into action, please feel free to share it with your friends. It would mean the world to me!

Listen in to the voices of this story here on Spotify podcasts and here on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also sign up to my regular emails here…. I look forward to sharing more stories with you next time.