Ayub park flaunts nine Miyawaki forests

The Army Heritage Foundation, Rawalpindi, in an eco-friendly initiative to keep the environment clean, has established nine Miyawaki forests along with traditional plantations at different locations in an area of 6.5 kanals in the Ayub National Park.

Over 9,000 different types of plants and trees have been planted in the Miyawaki forests, which are suitable for the country’s climate. AHF Director General Brigadier (retd) Asif Akhtar says keeping the environment clean is necessary to keep humans healthy and energetic. “We are committed to the goal of planting trees and increasing their growth by protecting forests,” he said and added that over 130,000 different types of trees and plants have been planted in the Ayub National Park by traditional planting.

“Also, Miyawaki forests have been planted at nine different locations,” he added. The Miyawaki Forest is known as a human creation. The Miyawaki technique was pioneered by a Japanese botanist (Akira Miyawaki). This concept aims to grow dense and native forests in less space.

Plant and tree growth in engineered forests is 10 times faster and 30 times denser. A Miyawaki Forest is maintenance-free after the initial three years and plays an eco-friendly role. The preparation of a Miyawaki forest involves excavating the land up to three feet, clearing half of the soil, and returning it to the excavation site.

The remaining soil is mixed with prepared biomass, including a perforator (rice husk) which promotes rapid plant root growth, a water retainer (coconut husk) which helps maintain water and moisture levels in the soil and manure (dung), before filling it into the pit to level the surface and saplings are planted two feet apart on the prepared ground. After the plantation mulching is carried out which means covering the soil surface with five to seven inches of dry leaves and straw for which wheat and rice straws are used.