"More than 420 million hectares of forest have been lost to other uses since 1990, according to the UN’s 2020 State of the World’s Forests Report.

With more than 85 per cent of the global population living in urban areas, micro-forests in cities offer an essential opportunity to combat deforestation. 

The Miyawaki Forest Technique, invented by Japanese botanist and plant ecology expert Professor Akira Miyawaki in the 1970s, is the inspiration for micro-forests worldwide. 

These diverse, organic small forests can be created on sites as small as nine square metres, and only use native species that would otherwise grow naturally in the planting area. They grow up to 10 times faster than monoculture forests, in just two to three decades. 

Since Miyawaki’s work began, more than 280 micro-forests have been planted."

...

"In polluted urban areas, micro-forests can help to restore soil, water and air quality, according to the Woodland Trust. 

Their small size allows plantation in relatively limited urban space, often taking advantage of unused spaces such as school playgrounds, cemeteries, and near metro stations. They can also help to reduce the impact of heavy rainfall, and to keep towns and cities cooler. 

Micro-forests can create more habitats for wildlife in cities, such as blackbirds or hedgehogs.  When planted in distinct layers, they can also develop plant communities of smaller shrubs and herbs, which allow the micro-forests to become self-sustaining after just three to five years of growth. 

“Our pocket forests offer a myriad of benefits” says Elise Van Middelem, Founder and CEO of SUGi.

“Perhaps most importantly, they can support the positive well-being of communities. From a psychological perspective, interacting with nature reduces physical stress and can improve symptoms of mental ill health, including anxiety or depression.”

The link provided doesn't really go over the method, so I looked into it a bit more. The key is planting a bunch of native trees close together. Like, 2ft tall trees, 2 ft apart. The overall garden can be just 3ftx3ft, any is fine really. By planting the trees close together, they grow upwards faster (rather than out sideways). Additionally, they make sure to prepare/improve the soil in advance to hold lots of water, and to apply lots of mulch over the top. You water it tons and weed it in the first two years or so, then it goes on by itself without maintenance.

The more diversity in native trees you can plant, the better. I think this @jstor blog post on the jstor website has a nice overview and some info on how the technique is being utilized around the world: https://daily.jstor.org/the-miyawaki-method-a-better-way-to-build-forests/

Agatha's expressions during this kiss are just devastating she is absolutely allowing herself to want Rio in this moment to give into her desire and yearning to embrace that fear while also doing a calculated play the great truth the great lie all at once but she is ultimately taking a risk with her heart (via @ennn)

#i love them so much#i miss them#there is SO MUCH history between jen and agatha that we aren’t told about but comes through clearly with very small amounts of info!!#agatha clearly knows all about kale kare! she’s been following it and sneering at jen’s claims about it the whole time#bc a con woman knows a con woman#and agatha’s smug and *vindicated* here bc - in her mind - jen is just like her#agatha later claims with actual sincerity that she left jen alone because the work she was doing - the ‘real’ work - was important.#agatha respected it.#and while that raises a lot of questions about what jen’s 'real’ work was - and whether it was actually tied to rootworking and midwifery#e.g. whether agatha left a fully-powered jen alone too (or believed she did) -#it’s clear that agatha respects jen-the-conwoman too even if she finds the con itself stupid#bc jen is *like* her.#and that is actually really important to agatha in a way that i think is especially hard for her to look at#when it’s revealed that she didn’t leave jen alone at all.#that jen is in fact just another victim of one of agatha’s cons… and one agatha clearly thought was insignificant and unmemorable at that#and yes! jen *is* like agatha! but only as a result of being damaged by agatha.#she’s out there with her kale kare empire getting lawsuits slapped on her - but those lawsuits claim significant physical damages#and i think that’s something that jen’s going to be reckoning with after the road#as she heals from what agatha’s done to her#and rediscovering who she is… and who she wants to be (via @tunemyart)

As far as I know, she is the first woman arrested bc of this law. The law requires that the trans person be warned to leave the bathroom by a state official, and then if they stay they are guilty of trespassing after a warning.

So like, me, my gf, others just piss and nobody asks or tells, but this young woman sent a statement about the law to over 100 FL lawmakers so they would know she was coming, the cops were ready for her, she brought a reporter and went in anyway and spent the night in a men's jail. She is out on bail, and is hoping this will inspire change of the law. But if found guilty, and the law is upheld as constitutional, then she could spend up to 60 days in a mens county jail.

I think it's important to know that this woman is a devout Catholic and is performing this act of civil disobedience as a profound act of faith (which I deeply respect, as someone whose Judaism vibes on the same wavelength). She brought a rosary with her and was planning on praying the rosary in the restroom after washing her hands if she was able to do so.

I also think it's important to know that she said in her letter that she knows that if she's sent to a men's prison that it is very likely that she will be raped.

The thing about Rosa Parks is we know her name. We should also speak Marcy Rheintgen's name