The Miyawaki Method is becoming increasingly famous worldwide because it has helped restore biodiversity in different parts of the planet. The name comes from the acclaimed Japanese botanist, Akira Miyawaki.
It consists, essentially, of dense planting of endemic vegetation to restore the biodiversity of ecosystems.
The Miyawaki Method: who was the inspiration
Miyawaki, who passed away in 2021, held a Ph.D. in Sciences. He was born in a mountainous area in Okayama, in western Japan, and became an authority in ecology.
He developed a system that traveled the world and contributed to the recovery of biodiversity in different latitudes. It is known as the Miyawaki Method.
The Miyawaki Method to restore biodiversity.
The Japanese biologist dedicated his life to studying Japan’s vegetation (he published the 10 volumes of Vegetation of Japan), as well as developing tools that would revolutionize forestation practices worldwide.
He managed to demonstrate that through dense planting of endemic vegetation, it was possible to restore the biodiversity of ecosystems ten times faster than with traditional methods.
The basis of the Miyawaki Method lies, then, in the concept of potential natural vegetation. It is a projection, with the climatic and ecological conditions at the time of measurement, of the native species that could thrive in a specific area if there were no human intervention.
The method developed by the Japanese botanist aims at creating forests, either in urban or degraded areas, favoring the use of these native species.
Together, they create diverse forest communities that allow recovery or enhancement of their biodiversity.
The Miyawaki Philosophy
“I wish for nothing more than to create the forest of life, the foundation for the survival of all life forms on Earth and the key to human development, with the citizens of Japan, the rest of Asia, and the entire world,” he wrote in 2006.
“I would like to make this dream come true. Let’s plant trees together, from under our feet, towards the world,” he conveyed.
During those days, he received the Blue Planet Prize, an international award that highlights exceptional contributions to environmental protection globally.
At that time, Miyawaki was 78 years old and had planted 30 million trees and conducted scientific work in forests and cities in 38 countries around the world.
