(TAN): Kerala Tourism has launched a project to create Miyawaki model micro forests at 22 tourism spots in 12 districts across the southern Indian state.
State tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran recently inaugurated the project by planting a sapling at Shanghumukham Beach, reports said. The minister said more than 30,000 saplings would be planted in about two acres of land identified for the scheme.
Creation of micro forests, that compare well with natural forests, would make the tourist destinations in the state, especially those in urban areas, environment-friendly, the minister was quoted as saying.
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Pioneered in the 1970s by botanist and plant ecologist Akira Miyawaki of Yokohama National University in Japan, the micro forestation model seeks to expand the green cover on the earth by nurturing mostly indigenous species of plants in small patches of land.
A Miyawaki model forest can attain growth within 5–10 years, whereas a natural forest takes 25–30 years to gain the same level of growth.
The model has been replicated across continents, especially among communities where the pressure on land is heavy. It has proved effective in fending off ill-effects of environmental degradation and climate change by conserving biodiversity, saving plants from extinction, shielding communities from natural disasters and serving as a bulwark against atmospheric and noise pollution, tourism department sources said to the media.
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According to reports, two micro-forests each are being planned in 10 districts and one each in Thiruvananthapuram and Pathanamthitta. The saplings are expected to achieve an average height of 10 feet within 12 months.
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