Home >> Learn >> The Man, The Myth, The Miyawaki Method: Aria Earth’s Planting Method

The Man, The Myth, The Miyawaki Method: Aria Earth’s Planting Method

One thing that differentiates Aria Earth from organizations within the forestry industry (besides the fact that we don’t chop trees) is our planting method. Inspired by the great, late Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, our planting style also aims to rebuild native forests that can support local ecosystems. He studied primeval forests, or forests pretty much untouched by human development. In Japan, these are called chinju-no-mori, or “Guardian Forests,” as they surround Shinto Shrines. Within those forests, natural spirits, or kami, “guard” and live in harmony with the nearby townspeople. This relationship between people and the environment is founded upon mutual respect and played a vital role in the development of the Miyawaki Method, his revolutionary planting style.

How the Miyawaki Method Works

With this respect in mind, Miyawaki was very intentional with how he planted trees. He sought to replicate the chinju-no-mori by planting native trees as they, with proper care, could thrive on their own. To ensure this he created a process with a few key steps:

  1. Research the site and determine the potential natural vegetation (or PNV)
    • PNV is a concept used to determine which plants would grow best in an area if they were untouched by human activity. Determining this helps a planter figure out what types of plants are best suited for the environment!
  2. Find and source native plants & trees to plant
  3. Treat and prep the soil so they can sustain a forest
  4. Plant the seedlings
    • Planting seedlings rather than seeds allows for easier establishment of mycorrhiza, or the symbiotic relationships between plants & fungi
    • This is beneficial in creating nutrient-rich soil and improves the self-sufficiency of the trees
    • (I needed to google a pronunciation of mycorrhiza, you’re not alone 😉)
  5. Weed & maintain the lands for 2-3 years
    • At this point, the forest will (hopefully) be self-sufficient

Why Diversity and Random Planting Matter

Additionally, the planting will be random as natural planting is random. Within the forestry industry, sometimes trees are planted in a gridlike fashion with a single species for organizational purposes. It’s easier to find and chop down a specific type of tree if they’re all close together than if they’re spread apart and interspersed with other trees. However, to create sustainable forests, this planting style presents a variety of challenges due to the lack of diversity in tree type.


Real forests have many different types of trees. Even the iconic Redwood forests out in California have different types of trees! The grand redwoods are accompanied by their (much) shorter cousins such as the bigleaf maples & the white adlers. This is cool and all, but there are also functional benefits to this diversity.  To name a few, having multiple tree species can lead to disease resistance. Certain types of trees are more susceptible to different diseases and pests, just like how some people are lactose-intolerant (me 🥲) while others are God’s favorite princesses and can eat dairy with no fear of consequence. For example, the dutch elm disease is a fungal disease that affects dutch elms way more than any other type of tree. This is due to a number of factors such as bark thickness, immune system, and how delicious it is to the elm bark beetle. The elm bark beetle is a bug that carries the fungus, and when they burrow into the tree for a yummy snack, the fungus attaches to the tree and takes root. The fungus then begins to reproduce and spread more spores and has the potential to wipe out other neighboring trees. Hypothetically, if all the surrounding trees were dutch elms, then it could be like a domino effect, leaving a bit of a bald patch within the forest and leaving many creatures without a warren to call home. However, if there are other trees, such as the European White Elm, which produces a compound(alnunin) that is undesirable to the pests, the spread of disease would be deterred.

Another benefit of planting a variety of trees in the same place is that you can make use of aerial space. There are three different layers of trees. Their layer is dependent on tree species and how developed they are. The highest is the emergent layer, followed by the canopy, and the shortest of the three is the understory. When planting with this in mind, it’s possible to maximize planting space as the trees can layer without competing. To provide an analogy, it’s like when you’re taking a group photo and so some people do a sorority squat to be able to include more people in the photo. 

Additionally, different trees can better support different types of life. These provide new & unique food sources to local wildlife, which attracts native animals back to the forest. Each animal has a niche or a role to play in keeping their environment sustainable. Furthermore, having the various techniques allow more opportunities for them to work symbiotically with the microorganisms in the soil. The mycorrhizae, symbiotic relationships between plants & fungi, then serve to replenish the nutrients in the soil, helping to support the forest ecosystem as a whole! 

This whole operation doesn’t happen overnight though. It takes time for these seedlings to grow, for these microbiomes to flourish, and for animals to come back to the forest. For about two years, these sites need close monitoring and maintenance in the forms of watering and weeding to keep them on track for growth. But after that period, the trees and microbiomes, along with all the other critters, work in harmony to support the ecosystem. I mean don’t expect a musical number like something out of Snow White, but everyone, even the squirrels have a role to play in maintaining the forest.🐿️

Our Commitment to Restoration

If you would like to play a role in helping us rebuild this forest and bring back some biodiversity to Okefenokee, please consider donating if you are willing and able to! We’re a non-profit organization and 100% of our donations go towards planting trees in terms of hiring local farmers to carry out the planting or sourcing the materials that are used in planting. If you want to see more content like that or read more articles, stay tuned for more! 🙂

Signing off,

The Aria Earth Team🌱

P.S. Feel free to contact us at hi@ariaearth.org with any questions you have or comments & we will get back to you as soon as we can!

References

  • Abhishyant Kidangoor, S. W., Kotzé, P., Mukpo, A., Keeton-Olsen, D., Catanoso, J., Joshi, A. R., Gabay, A., Achieng’, N., Yifan He / Siyu Qin / Rachel Golden Kroner, & Kimbrough, L. (2024, July 21). Miyawaki forests are a global sensation, but not everyone’s sold on them. Mongabay Environmental News. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/miyawaki-forests-are-a-global-sensation-but-not-everyones-sold-on-them/
  • Defebaugh, W. (2020, June 22). The forestkeeper: Dr. Akira Miyawaki. Atmos. https://atmos.earth/akira-miyawaki-reforestation-method-interview/
  • DeMeo, Tom. (n.d.). Brief on: potential natural vegetation. Forest Service. USDA.https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd1183309.pdf
  • Global Biodiversity Information Facility. (n.d.). Ulmus L. GBIF. https://www.gbif.org/species/113652026
  • How to pronounce mycorrhiza in English. Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d.). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/mycorrhiza
  • Interactive Center for Scientific Research on Squirrels. (2016, July 24). Squirrels and forest regeneration. ICSRS. https://i-csrs.com/squirrels-and-forest-regeneration#:~:text=The%20researchers%20also%20point%20out,1996
  • Mettendorf, B. (2019, October). The European white elm defies Dutch elm disease. Wald, Forstpraxis, Waldwirtschaft: Waldwissen.net. https://www.waldwissen.net/en/forest-ecology/forest-plants/deciduous/tree-of-the-year-2019
  • The miyawaki method for creating forests. SUGi. (n.d.). https://www.sugiproject.com/blog/miyawaki-method-for-creating-forests
  • Tanimoto, R. (2012). From Japanese: The Midori Press. From Japanese | The MIDORI Press. https://www.aeon.info/ef/midoripress/japanese/20120614__chinju-no-mori_have_you_ever_traveled_in_japan.html
  • U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Plants. National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/redw/learn/nature/plants.htm
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison. (n.d.). Mycorrhizae. Wisconsin Horticulture. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/mycorrhizae/#:~:text=The%20word%20%E2%80% 9Cmycorrhiza%E2%80%9D%20means%20fungal,are%20ubiquitous%20in%20the%20soil.
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