In an inspiring initiative to promote environmental sustainability, the concept of zero-budget mini forests draws from the traditional sacred groves of Kerala, India. This project, spearheaded by a passionate seed collector and community organizer, aims to establish natural forests in urban areas without financial investment, relying instead on the collaboration of the student community. Since 1997, the journey has involved creating diverse ecosystems, including fruit forests, butterfly parks, and biodiversity parks, while also restoring mangrove habitats in Vypin Island.
The approach emphasizes the importance of mulching with organic materials to enhance soil health, conserve water, and foster biodiversity. By sowing seeds directly into the mulch and allowing nature to take its course, the project challenges conventional practices of land management that prioritize cleanliness over ecological balance. Inspired by the sacred groves and ponds surrounding the ancestral home, this model demonstrates that anyone, even children, can cultivate a thriving mini forest in their own backyard using simple, effective methods. Join this movement to create nourishing green spaces that benefit both the environment and the community.
Introduction:
My goal is to create zero-budget natural forests – especially in urban areas – without funds in a non-violent manner in partnership with the student community. My journey of creating mini/micro forests started in 1997. For the last 12 years, I have been visiting schools, colleges and private plots in kerala and creating fruit forests, butterfly parks, herbal gardens, sacred groves, bamboo groves and biodiversity parks. We also started a community organisation called Grassroute to help restore mangrove ecosystems in Vypin Island, near the city of Kochi in Kerala, South India.
I am a seed collector. Along with friends, I have been collecting seeds of all fruit trees, shrubs, butterfly host plants, medicinal plants, forest trees, bamboo etc. We sow the seeds on raised beds, where they sprout and grow into saplings. These saplings are then transplanted to small growbags and kept it in our nursery for around 6 months to one year before they are distributed.
Miniforest@Home:
I started this project in 1997. My objective was to create a mini fruit forest around my home. The total area was 1.5 acres. I started mulching of the soil using dry/brown leaves, tree branches, and scraps/leftovers from the kitchen. I initially tried this on a plot of 10 cents area (one-tenth of an acre) on the northeast part of our land. The standard practice in our neighbourhood was to burn all leaf litter to keep the plots ‘clean’. But I decided not to burn a single dry leaf. Instead, I collect all the organic materials including leaf litter and use it for mulching.
Benefits of mulching:
- Protects the topsoil
- Water harvesting during monsoon
- Creating a habitat for earthworms and microorganisms
- Improves the fertility of the soil
- Very little watering is needed for plants during summer
After mulching, I sow different seeds in the mulch. When the rain comes, the seeds germinate. Normally, I do not remove weeds or prune the saplings. Here in Kerala, the practice is to remove all the weeds (‘kala’), grass and ‘waste trees’ (‘paazhmaram’, a term used to describe trees that have no immediate utilitarian benefit for humans). It is the same with ‘weeds’, which are plants which people think to be useless. However, I don’t believe that any tree or plant is useless. I therefore do not remove weeds and trees which grow naturally on the land. That is how I ended up creating this mini forest around my home.
The land around my ancestral home has 4 sacred groves (‘kaavu’) and 5 ponds (‘kulam’). My mini forest was created by drawing inspiration from these sacred groves. Adjacent to each sacred grove, there will be a pond. I now follow this model for creating mini/micro forests in urban areas.
It really is very simple. Even children can create a mini/micro forest in a small patch of land. If you follow some simple, tried and tested methods, you don’t need any money or machinery to create a beautiful and nourishing mini forest in your locality, no matter where you live.
