12-Acre Miyawaki Green Cover to Come Up in Greater Noida Under Authority’s Green Initiative

Using the Miyawaki plantation methodology, the Greater Noida Authority has initiated the development of an ‘urban forest’. The forest will come up on a 12-acre plot near Raipur Bangar village.

At least 1 lakh native trees are going to be planted on the green belt to enhance the area’s green cover. PNB Housing Finance and Catch Foundation are supporting this project as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

Shrilakshmi VS, Additional Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA), planted saplings on Saturday, thus launching the project. She noted that the authority has provided the land and the project has already been given a green signal.

Ajit Patel, senior manager (horticulture) of Greater Noida Authority mentioned that the green belt will be developed to act as an oxygen bank for the locality. The project will be based on the Miyawaki method which creates dense, native and self-sustaining mini-forests in small, urban spaces, reported the Hindustan Times. This novel method belongs to Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki.

The Catch Foundation will be responsible for maintaining and monitoring the plantation for three years to ensure the saplings develop into a full-fledged dense forest ecosystem where systematic irrigation, soil nourishment, and survival monitoring will be carried out as part of its maintenance.

The officials noted urban Miyawaki forests grow at a rapid pace as compared to traditional plantations, which later on develop into a self-sustaining dense forest ecosystem. Green cover like these play a vital role in improving air quality, boosting biodiversity, restoring soil health, lessening urban heat and lowering the carbon footprint.

Last year, the authority planted saplings at the Surajpur Collectorate, Sector 16, Sector P3, and Khanpur village by using the same technique. In 2017, the Noida administration had successfully developed an urban forest covering over 15 acres in Sorkha village, which boasts of over 88,442 trees from 62 species.