The Tiny Forest is an ongoing project! We often meet to help maintain the tiny forest by fixing signs, planting new trees or shrubs, adding more straw (to protect the plants during the Winter), and clearing up the path. We have also hosted groups of students and faculty from other schools who are interested in creating their own Tiny Forest, such as Sunnyside Environmental School and individuals from Tiny Forest Now!

Tiny Forests are inspired by the work of botanist Akira Miyawaki. They are dense plantings of native trees, shrubs, and groundcovers, close to each other in loosely packed, nutrient-rich soil. The first Tiny Forests were in Japan. Today, there are over 1,000 in India, Europe, Brazil, Malaysia, and elsewhere. 

Tiny Forests improve soil health, increase biological diversity, and serve as carbon sinks. The Red Alders in the Tiny Forest, for example, return nitrogen to the soil. The dozens of native species often interact symbiotically; they also attract wildlife, from insects to deer. The trees will store increasing amounts of carbon dioxide, removing it from the air. Tiny Forests are places for education about sustainability, native species, and Indigenous species of plants and, finally, places of hope for a more livable future.