In this Tiny Forest Chronosequence Tour, you'll visit four new-growth Miyawaki forests. These dense, biodiverse pocket ecosystems are named in honor of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, who championed fast-growing native species to sequester carbon and cool urban landscapes. The Danehy park site, which opened in 2021, was the first of its kind in the US.
This route can be completed 100% by bicycle.
You'll be exploring an urban climate resiliency experiment across greater Boston. The four Miyawaki sites you'll visit are listed here in order of appearance on this tour. Many were completed in partnership with their respective cities, and with participation from community volunteers.
Intrepid riders may want to explore even further. The following nearby Miyawaki sites extend beyond our published route:
In the 1970s, Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki curated a method for planting dense, fast-growing native forests to restore degraded land. His first successful project was based at a Nippon Steel Corporation factory in Japan, where he evolved a barren industrial site into a thriving forest.
Decades later, the global organization SUGi, which promotes rewilding through Miyawaki forests, partnered with the Boston-area nonprofit Bio4Climate in order to bring Miyawaki's method to Cambridge. While the precise history of how this partnership came about isn't clear, Cambridge was probably attractive for its commitment to sustainability, available parkland, and well-established community organizations. The region’s first pocket forest was planted at Danehy Park in 2021, and its biodiversity and evolution continues to be monitored by SUGi. The success of this pilot site sparked a wave of additional pocket forests across Greater Boston. Today, there are over 3000 Miyawaki forests globally, with more being planted each year.
Forest 1: Beginning at Kenmore Square, the suggested route first takes you into Brookline along the Emerald Necklace.
Forest 2: From there, head back into the heart of Cambridge via the BU bridge and Brookline St.
Forest 3: Head west on Hampshire St, which has had protected bikelanes installed as of 2023. As you approach North Cambridge, weave your way through quieter streets to the paved paths of Danehy Park (parking lot includes a Blue Bike dock and a bike rack if you prefer to walk around).
Forest 4: Connect over to Fresh Pond, and consider taking the Watertown-Cambridge Greenway, which opened in June '22, to Watertown, and then weave north through quiet streets. While not the most direct path, this greenway is the most calm and scenic option. Then loop back to Boston via Brattle St protected bike lanes ('22) and The Charles River bike path.
The Miyawaki reforestation method is fundamentally the result of research in ecology - at these pocket forest sites, you are witnessing the outcome of scientific experimentation and progress. Akira Miyawaki himself continued to publish scientific articles on the subject until late in his life (he passed away in 2021). One of his highly cited papers, published in 1998 in the journal Ecological Engineering, is a great reference for understanding how field investigations and ecotechnogical research factored into Miyawaki's work over the years. (And here's a wider access link for a similar paper of his from 2004 for science-minded readers who want to dig deeper).
The pocket forests you are visiting are therefore great examples of Natural Laboratories, where careful ecological methods accelerate the growth of a native forest. We anticipate that these sites will serve as case studies for ecologists in the years ahead.
In the immediate term, the Miyawaki pocket park sites in greater Boston are predominantly focused on practical restoration benefits and public engagement. For example, The city of Watertown's Miyawaki forest is motivated by reducing the urban heat island effect, promoting native species, and creating opportunities for hands-on science amongst local urban residents visitors. Meanwhile, the trees at Green-Rose park are monitored as part of a citizen science project led by Earthwise Aware. In addition, certain Miyawaki sites invite visitors to submit their photos of the site (e.g. Danehy park submissions are accepted here). Informational signs are also posted at most of the sites, which you can discover for yourself on your visit!
This route was contributed by a student team at Boston University as part of the 2025 edition of Bike2BU, an academic course taught by Dr. Sal Genovese and Prof. Nathan Phillips. This post was written in direct partnership with CycletoScience. Thanks to Team Chain Reaction (Rakan Alsarabi, Alexa Hankins, Hanna Huang, Tejas Kaur, Kyron Kern)