Within a space of two minutes, I’m going to tell you the different aspects of the creation of a Miyawaki forest. I will not go into the technical details. You will find them on our website www.crowdforesting.org. The first step involves identifying the most appropriate site. The roots of the saplings we plant should get enough space to spread unobstructed. So we should remove all the clutter, loosen the soil, add organic manure, coir pith and rice husk, and mix all of them thoroughly. After all the saplings are planted, we should put up a three-cement brick-high parapet wall around the site. The saplings should be protected from very strong sunlight and heavy rain. For that purpose, we should fix a green net and create a green house. The saplings we plant should have been raised in their grow bags for at least three months, and their root systems should have developed well. After planting the saplings, a thick layer of mulch, made of organic material, should be laid. We use rain hose for irrigation because through this arrangement, consumption of water can be reduced considerably. We plant four saplings in an area of one square metre. They will include one tree, and three sub-trees or shrubs. All of them should belong to indigenous species.
In the course of one-and-a-half years, the saplings grew up to 15 feet in height. That is what you are seeing now. Most of them have put out flowers and fruits. This is a Miyawaki forest that we created for Kerala Tourism at Shankhumugham beach in Thiruvananthapuram. As you can see, the forest has been put up on the sandy soil of the beach. You can see for yourself how much the plants have grown within this span of time. No other afforestation technique can guarantee such a rapid growth rate on beach soil. You are welcome to go there and check for yourself. Entry is entirely free of cost.