As small as a tennis court, "tiny forests" are being held up as a response to Australia's worsening biodiversity, deforestation and climate crises.
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And the team behind a growing number of these micro-wonders has spread its wings into the region, planting a first Pacific patch in the Cook Islands.
The premise is simple: plant native forest in small patches to help regenerate land.
The result, a tiny forest, can have an impact beyond the imagined.
"There's a range of both environmental and social benefits," said Anna Noon, who has helped build 19 tiny forests since 2023 with her group The Groundswell Collective.
"There's the rapid regeneration, creating these patches of habitat for biodiversity.
"They're also reducing urban heat, helping with localised flood mitigation, noise pollution, air pollution, a whole-rate carbon capture, both in the trees and in the soil.
"And they're connecting people with nature, connecting people with each other, which we know helps with their wellbeing and mental health."
Ms Noon was inspired - or perhaps alarmed - into action by the 2019 Black Summer bushfires, which charred land where she had just settled in NSW's Lake Macquarie region.
She came across the work of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, who found native species could grow at a pace when planted in loosened and improved soil.
A case in point is the Cedar Brush Creek tiny forest, planted by community volunteers in November 2024, which survived multiple floods to have trees almost five metres tall just months later.
"You can take these very small, under-utilised bits of grass that are usually requiring a lot of maintenance, lots of mowing, lots of watering, and turn them into something that's really beneficial for the whole community," Ms Noon said.
There are an estimated 4000 Miyawaki forests worldwide, including many in Australia.
For their part in adding to the tally, The Groundswell Collective was awarded the Biodiversity prize this week at the NSW Banksia Awards for sustainability.
Many tiny forests have pathways or seats involved in the design, allowing locals to take in the environment.
Hidden cameras and acoustic tools have allowed the group to discover just how popular they are with other critters and creatures.
"You're improving the soil. We get lots of ground dwellers and those ground dwellers bring in lots of birds," Ms Noon said.
"We've found everything from lizards and snakes to goshawks to wombats, kangaroos - you name it.
"Not always living there, but they are using the forest for shelter or breeding or other things."
The group was invited to build a forest in the Cook Islands after local studies showed runoff affecting the health of a lagoon.
Ecologist Brennan Panzarella said the Miyawaki method replicated traditional Rarotongan practice of soil preparation, dense plantation and deep mulching to hold moisture.
In November, dozens of volunteers gathered to plant 600 native trees and shrubs in a 200 square metre area for the Cooks' first tiny forest - or "Vaorakau iti".
Mr Panzarella said the local plants would support insects, birds, fungi, and soil life, stabilise freshwater systems and help rebuild the structure of a functioning island forest.
"This is just the beginning," he said.
Australian Associated Press
