#reforestation

Applying crushed basalt rock or beneficial soil microbes to newly planted woodlands can increase early tree growth and carbon storage, according to a new study led by the Department of Life Sciences. The research, published in Communications Sustainability, found that enhanced rock weathering increased aboveground carbon stored in young native woodland by up to 27% after four years. A second approach, enriching soils with beneficial microorganisms from established forests, improved early tree growth and tended to increase aboveground biomass by around 13% over the same period. The findings come from the Glandwr Forest Carbon Study, the largest field experiment to investigate how enhanced rock weathering and soil microbiome enrichment influence woodland establishment. The study spans 72 research plots across 11.5 hectares of Welsh hillside and is monitoring more than 25,600 trees in native broadleaf woodland and commercial conifer plantations.

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Dr Bonnie Waring, senior author, said: ‘Healthy new woodlands are essential for biodiversity, climate mitigation and resilient landscapes. Our findings show that relatively simple, nature-based interventions can improve tree establishment and increase the carbon uptake of new woodlands during their earliest years. Continued monitoring will help us understand how these treatments influence forest development as the woodland matures.’ The project is a collaboration between Imperial, The Carbon Community, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the University of Sheffield. More than 200 volunteers have also contributed to the research by collecting annual measurements from approximately 6,400 individually monitored trees as part of the project's ‘Big Tree Measure’, creating one of the largest citizen science datasets on woodland establishment. The findings could help improve the success of future woodland creation projects by increasing tree growth and carbon uptake during the critical establishment phase. The researchers stress that longer-term monitoring is needed to understand how these early gains translate into mature forests and how the interventions affect soil microbial communities and carbon stored below ground. They also hope similar large-scale field trials will be established across a wider range of soils, climates and tree species to build a stronger evidence base for woodland restoration and climate mitigation.

The popular Miyawaki method of reforestation, often used to create “mini-forests” in urban areas, lacks empirical evidence to support its claimed benefits, according to a new study. Proponents of the method have claimed rapid growth is achieved by soil improvement and dense planting, the latter of which causes saplings to complete for sunlight. The Miyawaki method has also been claimed to accelerate succession, enhance biodiversity, boost carbon sequestration, and increase tree density. In the study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology in December 2025, researchers reviewed 51 pieces of scientific literature on the Miyawaki method and found that only 41% provided quantitative assessments. Of these, only 33% included a control and a mere 14% included replication, key elements of the scientific method.

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Fernández, Morales and their co-authors write in their study that among the reviewed documents, the two most common claims about the Miyawaki method were that “it promotes rapid growth (up to ten times faster) and that the forest reaches maturity within a relatively short time span (20 to 30 years).” They found the former claim “partially supported,” while the latter had “null empirical evidence.” The study also assessed claims about the Miyawaki method’s climate and ecological benefits, finding eight out of 51 of the papers they reviewed assert that the method increases carbon sequestration. However, only two papers actually estimated carbon stocks, and they “found no statistically significant differences compared to other methods over longer time periods.”

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“The effectiveness of the Miyawaki method — or other restoration strategies — may depend, at least in part, on which ecological processes dominate in each ecosystem,” their study states. The pair says that in Mediterranean climate ecosystems like that around Santiago, with dry, hot summers and mild winters, plants collaborate rather than compete for resources. This contrasts with a key tenet of the Miyawaki method, which holds that plants will compete for resources. “We are not against the Miyawaki method,” Fernández emphasizes. “But we are worried that a method that was designed for specific conditions is being applied everywhere.”

Forests are vital for biodiversity, climate stability and healthy ecosystems. With deforestation taking a toll on the planet, reforestation is among the most powerful tools available to restore degraded land and increase resilience to environmental change. Enviro Forest is a sustainable land development, native biodiversity restoration and science driven forestry solutions firm helping communities and organizations create lasting environmental impact. Through responsible reforestation and carbon sequestration and ecological monitoring we can build healthier forests for future generations. Every tree we restore produces cleaner air, healthier ecosystems and a more sustainable future for all.

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