A Tiny Forest is a densely packed native forest, that fits into the size of a tennis court. The forest is not just an pleasant spot for butterflies, birds, bees and small mammals; it is a great place for people too. In the outdoor classroom, children learn about nature and it also serves as a meeting place for the local community.
IVN’s mission is to re-connect people and nature by letting people experience the true beauty of nature, preferably in their own neighbourhood. The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. About 66% of the population lives in an urban area, far away from nature. As a result, thousands of kids never visit nature. How can we expect people – and especially children – who never visit nature, to care about nature, loss of biodiversity, climate change and plastic soup?
This is why we adopted the Tiny Forest initiative from Shubhendu Sharma. It helps local communities and schoolchildren to create a litte pockets of nature closeby. This way they can visit and enjoy nature everyday, even in heavily urbanized areas.
Tiny Forest is not just about restoring nature: it is about creating a healthy environment, where people can (re)connect to nature. With Tiny Forests, we want to create a natural habitat for people in the city. Research shows that children who spent a lot of time in nature, grow up to be healthy, happy and creative adults, that want to contribute to society.
We believe that kids who plant their own forest, learn how to maintain it, and follow nature lessons in the outdoor classroom, will grow up loving nature and will help to restore our planet to it’s former glory. That is why we involve schoolchildren and the local community in every step of the process.
Tiny Forests have been very popular since the planting of the first Tiny Forest in Zaandam in december 2015. After planting our first forest, all sorts of ‘Tiny Forest’ initiatives came up in the Netherlands. Some of these initiatives differed a lot from the ideas and philosophy of Sharma and Miyawaki. That is why IVN and Sharma decided to turn Tiny Forest into a Registered Trademark: Tiny Forest®. This way we can ensure that small forests that bear the name Tiny Forest are in line with the ideas of Sharma and Miyawaki and also have a plan for involving the local community and schoolchildren.
Download our Checklist ‘Is my forest a Tiny Forest®? or check the infographic below to determine whether your forest is a true Tiny Forest!
Doneer aan IVN
Draag nu bij aan een generatie die de natuur kent en waardeert, gezonder opgroeit en betrokken is bij een duurzame toekomst. Met jouw donatie kunnen wij meer mensen de natuur laten ontdekken.
