In car parks, public squares or the edges of the ring road, in housing estates or universities, in Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse or Strasbourg… For barely five years, urban microforests have been sprouting up all over France.
Inspired by the Miyawaki reforestation method, which promises accelerated growth of these small islands of greenery, they appeal to cities in a hurry to vegetate in a small space.
Because trees are essential in urban areas, and become even more so in the light of global warming: they improve air quality by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2, a powerful greenhouse gas) and act as natural air conditioners, providing shade and cooling the surrounding air through evapotranspiration.
Read alsoGlobal warming: will we save the planet by planting trees?
This concept of microforest was created by the Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, who in the 1980s developed a method aimed at restoring ecosystems by planting local species in a very dense way - three…
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