The city of Attleboro, Massachusetts, is combating flooding and stormwater damage by using a highly innovative concept that began in Japan in the 1970s. The planting of a Miyawaki pocket forest is expected to help to reduce flood damage, slow water runoff and allow water to seep into the ground.

Attleboro experienced significant flooding and stormwater damage following 10 inches of rain in September 2023. The plan is to plant 35 different species of trees and shrubs if enough funding is reached in April 2026, totaling around 550 plants, in a 2,050-square-foot forest, with the assistance of local high school students and volunteers. The project is considered a pilot, with the goal of establishing more large Miyawaki forests in the future.

Also referred to as “pocket forests”, the high diversity of native woody plants, all connected in the soil to a vast mycorrhizal network of roots, fungi and bacteria, grow about 10 times as fast as a stand of one tree species. Attleboro’s pocket forest is designed to provide ecological benefits and address a larger-scale issue stemming from polluted stormwater runoff, which affects food sources, water bodies and downstream ocean ecosystems where right whales dwell.