Archive
Everything we have written about the islands — sensor data, plantings, soil science and what we learn from every 50 m². Nothing gets removed.
8 articles
Autumn begins today, and it is also the first anniversary of this urban mini-forest in Setúbal. 150 native trees turned an unused schoolyard corner into a miniature climate refuge — we went back to see what a year of growth has changed.
Read article →I photograph whatever shows up inside the islands — a bumblebee on a flower, a ladybird, the insect hotel. Those photographs became illustrations, and the illustrations became organic cotton t-shirts. For every piece sold, we plant two native trees or shrubs in the next island.
Read article →45 months after planting, we measured the temperature at Lisnave, in Setúbal. Asphalt at 39.2 °C, ship hull at 37.7 °C, inside the MiniForest at 28.0 °C. The first Biodiversity Island in an industrial setting in Portugal brings the on-site temperature down by 11.2 °C.
Read article →6 months after planting, we returned with the students for weeding, measurements and analysis of the first sensor data. The cement courtyard runs 0.5°C to 1°C warmer than inside the mini-forest. Soil moisture inside the Olly Water pot area reads 32% — versus 19% outside.
Read article →8 mini-forests become 8 planets. 8 ecosystems that closed in on themselves — tiny worlds of biodiversity scattered across Portugal. A movement that starts at 50m².
Read article →At Residência Egas Moniz in Sesimbra, the residents themselves picked up the spades. A therapeutic forest born from hands that rarely hold tools — now shading the garden benches.
Read article →Beneath each island lies an invisible network. Mycelium connects roots, shares nutrients and accelerates native species growth. Without it, the Miyawaki method doesn't work.
Read article →At Escola de Amora we tested two technologies simultaneously: Olly Water capillary irrigation pots and NAM ground cover. Results after 6 months.
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