On Friday, November 18, 2022, over 650 young trees were ready on the nature estate, arranged by species, waiting for hands. Students from the Hout- en Meubileringscollege Amsterdam and Aventus Apeldoorn walked between the crates. By the end of the day, there was a dense native forest the size of a tennis court: a student forest, created according to the Miyawaki method.
What a Miyawaki forest is and why it works
The Miyawaki method was developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki starting in 1980. His work was awarded the Blue Planet Prize in 2006, the ecological equivalent of a Nobel Prize. The principle is as simple as it is radical: plant native species in high density and the forest finds its own shape. No rows, no grids, no gaps for grass. The trees compete for light and therefore grow faster than in a traditionally planted forest. According to the method, a Miyawaki forest reaches an ecologically mature state in ten to fifteen years, which takes a normal forest a hundred years.
For animals, the effect is immediately noticeable. Butterflies, birds, bees, and small mammals find shelter and food within a few seasons. For people, it works differently: a Miyawaki forest is not a forest for walking in; it is too dense for that. It is a forest to be near.
A student forest for students working with wood
The forest on the nature estate is no accidental planting. It is a student forest, set up by Stichting Groeiend G’hout and Natuur en Milieufederatie Flevoland (NMFF) under the banner of Plan Boom. The idea: for every student who graduates from a program working with wood, a tree is planted annually. A direct link between those who use wood and those who give wood back.
The planting day itself was a collaboration with students from two programs who handle wood daily: the Hout- en Meubileringscollege Amsterdam and Aventus Apeldoorn. They dug, planted, and covered the roots with wood chips, all in one day.
Omroep Flevoland made a report on the planting day that captures the direct atmosphere well.
The video of the planting is on YouTube:
The forest now, three years later
The Miyawaki forest is located a short distance from Slot Roggebot, on about 200 square meters of land. An open space was deliberately left in the middle. In the years since the planting, that spot has grown into exactly what it was intended for: a quiet place to be near the forest, and a gathering place for educational groups and nature-based events. The surrounding trees are now several meters high. What was an open field in November 2022 is now a closed green edge.
Plan Boom and the multi-year perspective
The student forest on the nature estate is one of many Plan Boom planting moments. NMFF plants ten million trees through this project in gardens, verges, public greens, parks, on business parks, and in rural areas. On the estate, a first planting action was already organized in 2021 before the 2022 planting. Stichting Groeiend G’hout and NMFF plant at least 400 trees here per year.
That multi-year perspective is what turns an impact project upside down. One planting day feels like one day of work. In reality, it is the start of an ecological process that spans decades.
Planting a forest with your organization or educational program
The nature reserve offers space for other organizations that want to contribute to nature restoration in a similar way. It works particularly well for educational institutions: students experience in one day what classroom lessons rarely provide. Hands in the soil, feeling the scale, seeing how a planting relates to an ecosystem.
For companies, it works differently but just as concretely. A team day where a physical contribution is made to a forest, a hedge, or a wooded bank yields something a meeting room cannot: something that will still be growing in five, ten, twenty years. Read about the
tea hedge that APPM planted here, the
planting the 2050 wooded bank that JTI created or the
planting action by students from MBO College Lelystad.
Realize a student forest or nature project yourself
Whether you are an educational institution, company, or social organization: we are happy to help think of a planting that fits your goals, your group, and the season in which you visit. One party plants once, another returns annually for maintenance and expansion.
Get in touch or request a quote directly for a planting day or nature project.
Read also
The student forest and the planting day made local and regional media:
- Flevopost: Studentenbos op Landgoed Roggebotstaete krijgt vorm
- De Stentor: In Flevoland wordt studentenbos aangelegd
- Noordoostpolder.nl: Plan Boom aanplant studentenbos op Landgoed Roggebotstaete
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