Rapid-growing forest to be planted in Preston suburb
A mini-forest is set to spring up on the edge of a suburban park in Preston.
Lancashire County Council is planning to create a so-called ‘Miyawaki Forest’ in Haslam Park on the border of Ingol and Ashton, close to the Lancaster Canal.
It is one of six such habitats - also known as ‘micro-woods’ - that the authority is seeding across the county, using a grant awarded from an environmental fund established to mark the King’s coronation last year.
The forest - made up of more than 800 trees and shrubs - will be planted using the Japanese Miyawaki method. That means it will grow to its full scale within around 30 years - as opposed to the up to 200 years a new forest would usually take to mature.
Community groups and schools will be drafted in to help with the planting on what is currently a piece of rough ground, on the northern moorland edge of Haslam Park.
The Miyawaki principle is known to be particularly effective at establishing forests in urban environments, using trees native to the area. According to the website Creating Tomorrow’s Forests, the trees planted using that method “grow much faster, jump-starting the forest creation process and capturing more carbon”.
It explains: “One of the most noticeable differences in a Miyawaki forest is that the seedlings are planted at very high densities. This replicates the regeneration process that occurs in a natural forest when a clearing in the canopy opens up due to a larger tree falling.
“The saplings grow very fast to compete for the light and then natural selection will favour the fastest growing individuals and act to thin out the trees.”
A Lancashire County Council spokesman said of the project: "We were awarded grant funding of £49,000 by the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, to commemorate the coronation of King Charles, from its Coronation Living Heritage Fund for the planting of six new 'Miyawaki Forests', or micro-woods, in Lancashire.
"The micro-wood will contain around 850 trees, shrubs and plants to create a multi-tiered forest growing in optimal conditions.
"Following the success of our first micro-wood, planted in Kirkham under this scheme, we are now proposing to roll out more sites measuring 200 square metres in the coming months. These will be planted with community groups and other partners and will include one micro-wood next to the Lancaster Canal in Haslam Park at Ingol.
"The micro-woods will bring huge biodiversity benefits early in their life and are expected to reach maturity in about 30 years with the end result as a little slice of mature, healthy forest in a parkland setting.”
Ben Ward, one of the Preston city councillors for Ingol and Cottam - in whose patch the new Preston micro-wood will sit - added: “It’s great to hear that a Miyawaki Forest will be planted in Ingol.
“A simple concept that brings an abundance of community and environmental benefits, both now and in the future.”