Tiny Healthy Forests

At the NHS Forest, we know that time spent in nature is good for you, but we also know that space around sites can be limited. We have teamed up with Earthwatch to offer six Tiny Healthy forests to NHS sites across England.

What is a Tiny Forest?

A Tiny Forest is a dense, fast-growing native woodland. It is typically made up of 600 trees planted in a tennis-court-sized plot of 200m². Earthwatch has adapted a method of forest management developed in the 1970s by Dr Akira Miyawaki to encourage accelerated forest development. You can see some examples and find further information on the Earthwatch website.

Why plant Tiny Forests on healthcare sites?

Tiny Forests have low management and maintenance requirements after two years and provide wide-ranging benefits to people and the planet. Tiny Forests can be designed to have glades within, which can provide a brilliant space for activities, relaxation and reflection.

As part of the project, we will see how Tiny Forests can impact staff and patients and will engage the community to generate relevant insights from NHS patients and staff. We will be asking questions around what aspects of getting involved with Tiny Forests people particularly enjoy and what makes them feel better.

We hope these Tiny Forests on NHS sites will demonstrate healthy engagement with urban nature to encourage positive habits, both for patients who are recuperating and for anyone who wants to boost their health.

Apply for a Tiny Forest by registering your interest in a larger woodland scheme and ticking the “interested in tiny forest” box. We will then be in touch.