Students Help Plant Stamford's First Miyawaki Forest Next To Hart Elementary School

STAMFORD, CT — The sounds of digging and excited conversation filled the air outside Hart Magnet Elementary School on Thursday morning as fourth-grade students helped plant Stamford's first-ever Miyawaki Forest.

Named after Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki in the 1980s, a Miyawaki Forest is a small, densely planted native forest designed to quickly develop into a layered, self-sustaining plant community. Bridgeport currently has the largest Miyawaki Forest in the Northeast at 12,000 square feet.

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The forest, which is located just next to Hart in a newly redeveloped greenspace and brand-new playground, is expected to grow to around 50 feet at its highest level. It will provide food and shelter for birds, butterflies, bees and other wildlife, absorb rain runoff, filter pollution from the air and store carbon. It will also help neighbors foster a sense of place and wonder.

"This is a way to do an instant forest. It's really a way to bring in a high level of biodiversity in tight spaces when we're really lacking in that," said local Landscape Architect Aris Stalis, who helped in the planning of the concept. "Biodiversity is so important, and it keeps everything in balance."

In planning for the new park area and playground, which is not yet ready to open, Hart Principal Sandra Carlton asked if the school's student council could be involved. Stamford Associate Planner Erin McKenna and Stalis came in and gave a presentation to the students and launched a survey to find out what elements were desired.

The students expressed an interest in having more green space, a lot of swings on the new playground, and a connection to nature due to Hart's commitment to Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM).

Stalis also designed the playground and introduced the concept of a Miyawaki Forest, and the students loved it, according to Carlton.

The planting of the forest was supported by Stamford Parks & Recreation and the Aspetuck Land Trust, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting land and connecting people to the natural world.

The Miyawaki Forest concept connects to the fourth-grade curriculum that includes the study of plant structures, erosion, and environments, and also to this year's "STEAM Quest."
Each year, Hart students participate in a new STEAM Quest, and last year, the focus was on pollinators.

This year, the STEAM Quest revolves around the human impact on waterways, and one connection to waterways is green spaces, Carlton explained.

Aside from the science and learning aspect, the Miyawaki Forest will allow students to see something they contributed to grow right in their backyard.

"I do think it's amazing to be able to watch it grow," Carlton said. "It's that connection to the community, to the earth, and nature, and knowing I did this, I created this, and look at all the good it's bringing to the environment."

Small groups of students came outside on Thursday morning, put on gloves, and helped plant around 800 small hedge plants to fill in gaps in the soil.

"I think this is so cool. I really like this. I like it so pollinators can come and get food. My favorite part about planting is digging," said Josue Hernandez, 9, a fourth-grader.

The forest consists of:

• Upper canopy: Swamp white oak and sycamore.
• Mid-canopy: Red maple, gray birch, American hazelnut, black cherry, sweetgum and red cedar.
• Shrubs: Common elderberry, groundsel tree, spicebush, winged sumac, red-osier dogwood, wild raisin, buttonbush, witchhazel, winterberry, black chokeberry, black huckleberry, bayberry, swamp rose and sweet fern.
• Herbaceous: White wood aster, Pennsylvania sedge, golden groundsel, large-leafed aster, heart-leafed aster, Jacob's ladder, lady fern, Labrador violet, common blue violet, broad leaf sedge, curly-styled wood sedge, low woodland sedge and Eastern star sedge.

Hart science teacher Susan Christiano noted the mini forest will help students understand the importance of plants and what plants can do for the community and native insects.

"These are really important opportunities because we are not only planting plants, but we're planting seeds for the future with these children so they can hopefully grow up and have green spaces wherever they live," Christiano said. "Even if they live in an apartment, you can have a plant and have your own bits and pieces."

For Stamford Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Adrian Talley, who put on some gloves and helped plant a few hedges on Thursday, the project is about community.

"Our theme is 'Build Together,'" Talley said. "If you think about it, the students are helping to build the community with this new playground, and for years to come, they can come back and see what they planted."