The Healing Forest in Washington will cultivate an abundant resource for the Yakama Nation by transforming a barren landscape into a thriving, lush forest at the Yakama Nation Corrections & Rehabilitation Facility. The goal is to nourish the land and restore the lives of the inhabitants. Although there are only ten inches (25 cm) of annual rainfall, there is the potential to create a native tree forest of these grounds. The Healing Forest will teach the wisdom of the old ways, in which individuals live in balance with themselves, their neighbors, and the natural world.

Sha Tin Junior School has been slowly improving an abandoned slope next to their school building. Previously, there were only a few old trees surrounded by low-quality soil where nothing else could grow.

But by adding compost over the last 3 years, some grasses and weeds have started to return, and the school’s Sustainability Teacher has started planting many different plants in the area. The pocket forest even includes a butterfly zone alongside a small patch of land left to ‘rewild’ on its own.

São Paulo faces significant challenges from climate change, including prolonged heat waves, droughts, and flooding that impact human and environmental health. The Atlantic Forest, once covering much of Brazil’s coast, has been reduced by 90%, leaving many plant species endangered. To address this, we have planted pocket forests in five state schools across densely populated low-income areas of the city of São Paulo, that are in desperate need of more green spaces. This project is part of an educational programme to create outdoor classrooms that engage students, aged 7 to 17, along with the broader school communities. Over two semesters, student groups rotated through the programme, with each group of students going through six hands-on classes held in each forest, ensuring that every student could experience, plant and learn from the forest.